W10: "Dear pollutants of earth..."

Dear pollutants of Earth,

    Humans are wonderfully adaptive. It’s something Pavlovian, one of the many gifts bestowed or earned by Mother Nature itself. Our species is survived by hundreds of thousands of brilliant minds, and it will remain that way for the rest of the billion years that the universe has to offer. 

    We’ve achieved wonder that no other species can do so. Archaeological wonders were built in the middle of nowhere. Systems that made our foundation. Everything that is wonderfully, painfully human. 

    We’ve established ourselves as who we are, but we forget who we really once were. We mocked the hand that gave us the very things that we learn to build on, and you were one of the reminders. 

    And really, that’s just how the universe works. Your arrival was inevitable, just a product of counterbalance, the yin side of the yang side. Bought down as a punishment to forever haunt the air we breathe and the soils we touch. To remind us that things have consequences, and we are nothing against the universe. 

    They whisper and asked who are you, and this is what I think who you are: 

    You are a word, a single line in a textbook, a phrase repeated repeatedly by Asian parents or tired underpaid teachers to hammer into innocent fresh minds, who care about everything except anything. No one really understands you

    You are a piece of propaganda. A piece of information, a headline of a random article, a block of text on some metal billboard in some wretched megapolis. Just some fancy eye-catching word slapped on so that people would rest their tired eyes on it for a brief moment before they turn away. No one really cares. 

    You were in conversations, mentioned by important people, and people who aren't but deem themselves are. Those who want to talk, talk, and those who don’t, don’t listen. Because in human nature, we only care about what matters to us most at the moment. Pavlovian in nature, bestowed by Mother Nature itself. 

    Everyone knows who you are, but doesn’t know what you really are. 

    You were unloved, shunned by the whole universe. No one really wants you here, but most don’t care enough that you are. I’m sorry people don’t talk enough about you, and I’m sorry people don’t listen enough about you. Forgive us, for, despite all, we are flawed. Flawed and young, we still have plenty to learn from the universe. If they still offer us, that is. 

    Maybe one day we will sit on a pile of rubble, and reflect on what we did. Or maybe we won’t be here anymore, just a piece of civilization on a patch of ruined soil. Or maybe we will sit among a green city, and reminisce about how the greatest battles aren't about aliens or some outer species, but about human nature itself.

    Because humans can learn and adapt, and that’s how it is. 

Figure 1: A quick drawing from me. I 💗 U 🌎.

Sincerely,

Celine Chi Zhao Xuan