Strange But True

Today I came across some "keep sakes" my Mom had saved for many years and then given to me some years ago now. She did this for all of us "kids". Anyway, today I came across some of mine. In this folder I found music books from when I was 13 and taking guitar lessons (no, unfortunately I can't play the guitar now... long, sad story I may tell some other time). There were a few other odds and ends things in there, including a "Poetry Assignment" from when I was in grade 9 (countless life times ago now). The assignment was as follows:

Part 1
1- Find a contemporary song that you like.
2- Write out the words to it.

Part 2
Go to the library, go through the poetry books, and find poems that you like. Two involving war, two about love, two on nature or social problems (ghetto, poverty, etc.)

Part 3
Write your own poem of 15 to 25 lines. It can be on any topic you choose.

For Part 1:
I chose "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" by Sonny & Cher

For Part 2:
Warfare Long Ago: "The Maid" by Theodore Roberts
Modern War: "Dunkirk, 1940" by Idris Davies
Nature: "Coyote" by Bret Harte
Social Problems: "The Invisible Man" by T. S. Matthews
Love: "The Highway Man" by Alfred Noyes (I must've been crazy... this is one of the longest poems on the books, I'm sure. Most kids would've chosen short poems! But not I.)
Love: "Girl" by Don Moreaes

Part 3:
Funny, I see now this was to be 15 - 25 lines... but it's only 12 and I didn't get docked any marks for that. I did get docked 1 mark for turning it in late, but not for too few lines, haha. The poems I've written since then have rarely been this short - and usually would be too long for this assignment. Ready? Here it is:

Pollution

Pollution surrounds us
Everywhere we look,
In the air, in the lake,
And in the friendly brook.

Pollution kills!
The situation looks bad,
But still people continue to litter,
And that's what makes me mad.

Pollution is harmful to man and beast
And to the little insects, too,
So if you care about future life on earth,
Help stop pollution, please do!

Alice Price

And as much as I've changed over the years, I see that there are ways I've remained the same. I still feel that what I wrote in this poem is true. I still am against littering. Sadly, people have continued to litter and, in many other ways, pollute our earth. Things continue to get worse and worse... for man, for beast, and yes, for the insects too. I did this assignment about (I hate to admit it) 35 years ago. At that time, if people had listened, we could have still saved the earth... Can we now??? At this point the scientists are trying to figure out the answer to that question, but it doesn't look good. Have people learned from past mistakes and "mended their evil ways"? Nope... not so far as I can see.

Oh, by the way... after loosing one mark for "late", I still got 19/20, and the comment "excellent selection".