The plastic ban in Kenya has occurred

A step towards safe environment structured

Banish those pollutant plastics deadly

That chokes the streets and gutters filthy

 

The educated man needs a re-education

Of the pros and cons of waste reduction

Increase not thou unfriendly sophistication

That not only demands but breathes in pollution

 

The new age takes a reference from the old

Grandma’s days were smarter, we are now told

Using re-usable resources with a spirit bold

When the sensitivity for future wasn’t so cold

 

Plastics that pollute to be used sparingly

Durability of products spelt of their quality

Be it metal containers and Tiffin boxes plenty

Or even the now near extinct fountain pens greatly

 

The one pen owned by one lasted years so many

The one basket for groceries used, re-used uncanny

When the bicyclists hanged baskets of shopping fancy

And the grandmother stitched colourful bags lacy

 

Carcinogens then did not create illnesses and kill

Rubbish then did not strangle fish for some thrill

 

Whales never died then from consuming plastic frill

And the rivers and seas didn’t need clean up drills

 

When food and drink was pure and heavenly

And was cooked with love environment friendly                       

Without microwaving the fire grilled food patiently

And consumption was just a mark of sufficiency

 

Awareness now created more so in Kenya country

Pollutants emerge as micro-, meso- or macro-debris

Unfavourable to land, waterways and atmospheric space

NEMA shuns usage of plastic bags by human race

 

Limiting the manufacture, usage and incineration

Of the synthetic product that has toxic degradation

Enhance thy use of biodegradable production

And contribute thy effort at the planet’s conservation

 

Your wasteful indulgence of this chemical contamination

Poisons many a species to their precious life’s termination

Plead dear Man do not cause this destruction escalation

Wildlife shall bless thy for bringing in plastic reduction

 

 

The modern man that grew from the past ages

Be it Ice -age, Stone-age, or many vast ages

Has unpleasantly been titled the man of Garb-ages

He needs to return in sanity to be counted among sages.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–IN THE MEDIA:

Published as Poem of the Month October in The Asian Weekly edition 373 – 13th to 19th October 2017

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