A Poem in Honor of Environmental Health Day, Written by Youth in Rural Honduras 🌿
“No more fires… Would you incinerate your own lungs?”
This moving poem, written by youth from smallholder farming families in rural Honduras, reminds us that nature speaks—her groans echo the destruction we cause, but also the hope that we can protect her, and ourselves, by choosing a different path.
“Care for the air we breathe as you would for yourself, every drop of water, every crop, every fruit, every medicinal plant.”
Our well-being is tied to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the earth that sustains us. Rural youth urge: don’t do to nature what you wouldn’t do to yourself—because we are one with nature.
Scroll down past the Spanish version to read the poem in English.
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“No más incendios… ÂżIncinerarĂas tus propios pulmones?”
Este poema, escrito por jóvenes de familias de pequeños agricultores en las zonas rurales de Honduras, nos recuerda que la naturaleza habla: sus gemidos reflejan la destrucción que causamos, pero también la esperanza de que podamos protegerla, y protegernos a nosotros mismos, eligiendo un camino diferente.
“Cuida el aire que respiramos como lo harĂas contigo mismo, cada gota de agua, cada cultivo, cada fruta, cada planta medicinal”.
Nuestro bienestar está ligado al aire que respiramos, el agua que bebemos y la tierra que nos sustenta. Protejamos nuestro medio ambiente como cuidamos nuestros cuerpos. Los jĂłvenes rurales instan: no le hagas a la naturaleza lo que no te harĂas a ti mismo, porque somos uno con la naturaleza. Lee el poema completo abajo.
Poema Sobre EL DĂa Mundial De La Salud Ambiental
La naturaleza habla,
sus gemidos van dirigidos al hombre que la destruye.
El campo esta triste,
con la melancolĂa a flor de piel por el abandono de aquellos pajarillos,
que con sus notas magistrales exaltan.
Y la tranquilidad al oĂr su canto,
que a nuestro corazĂłn brindaba.
Ya no se encuentran aquellas flores
que con su aroma sentĂas el amor, puro,
ni aquellos cultivos que el humano cosechaba,
y todo lo bello que la fauna representaba.
Cada temporada todo está disminuyendo,
solo se encuentra sequedad, tristeza,
hambre y sufrimiento.
No mas incendios,
ÂżAcaso calcinarĂas tus pulmones?
Lo haces por avaricia y ambiciĂłn.
No más incendios y destrucción,
de lo contrario el hombre cavara su tumba
y su propio calvario.
Tu no contaminarĂas tu sangre,
ni cortarĂas tus venas,
dime porque lo haces con ella sin remordimientos
y sin pena.
Cuida como a ti mismo el aire que se respira,
cada gota de agua,
cada cultivo,
cada fruta,
cada planta medicinal.
Es el sustento de todo ser humano
y sin naturaleza no somos nada.
Ella es tan bella
que no dudo un segundo en representarte en ella,
es un templo, es tu hogar, cuĂdala y protĂ©gela como tal.
Elaborado por: Didier Castillo, Enita Juarez, Heydi Varela, con nuestro socio ACESH
A Poem in Honor of World Environmental Health Day
Nature speaks,Â
its groans are directed at the man who destroys it.Â
The countryside is sad,
with melancholy on the surface
from the absence of the little birds
whose masterful notes once filled the air,
bringing peace upon hearing their song
that once warmed our hearts.
Those flowers are no longer found,
whose aroma made you feel love, purity,
nor those crops that humans harvested,
and all the beauty that fauna represented.
Each season everything is diminishing,
only dryness, sadness,
hunger and suffering remain.
No more fires,
Would you incinerate your own lungs?
You do it out of greed and ambition.
No more fires and destruction,
otherwise mankind will dig its own grave
and carve its own agony.
You wouldn’t contaminate your blood,
nor cut your veins,
tell me why you do it to her
without remorse and without shame.
Care for the air we breathe as you would for yourself,
every drop of water,
every crop,
every fruit,
every medicinal plant.
It is the sustenance of all human beings
and without nature we are nothing.
She is so beautiful
that I don’t hesitate for a second to see you in her,
she is a temple, she is your home,
care for her and protect her as such.
Created by: Didier Castillo, Enita Juarez, Heydi Varela, with our local partner ACESH
About the Youth Storyteller Program
This poem was created as part of the Youth Storyteller Program – a program that empowers youth to become powerful communicators for change. By engaging in activities such as writing, video production and drawing, youth explore and activate their creative potential as they share their stories, beliefs and aspirations, and those of their communities as smallholder farmers. Learn more about this program.