By Sofia Celli
6th grade, Village School, MA
Honorable mention
With lines from “In a Famed Game Park Near the Foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, the Animals Are Giving Up” by Georgina Gustin and Larry C. Price, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
there is
nothing
left
no plants
no mud
no leaves
on the worn
trees
but worst of all
no
water.
which means
no splashing
no drinking
no food
no
rain.
i haven’t
felt
the
rain
since the grass
was
green
since the hyenas
howled
but now
deceased wildebeests litter the
cracked
arid
earth
the scorching
sun
burning their backs
as if their demise
had been choreographed.
they will never
feel the
rain
again.
We
are
giving
up
_________________________
momma says
the rain
smelled fresh
calming
cooling
i can see
her
bones
through her hide
she told me
she can see mine
too.
it hurts.
the hunger pierces my
stomach
i can see
the sorrow in
my mother’s eyes.
i’m sorry, she says
she can’t take care of me
or herself
and there is
nothing
that I
can do
i have seen the
elephants
gazelles
giraffes
families
mother and baby
side by side
together
but i
know
they are
not
content.
they
are giving
up,
momma told me
i was born
in
the rain.
but i
do not
remember.
__________________________
the danger
is taking
advantage
of us.
we have
nothing
left
to live for.
we
are
all
giving
up
Sofia Celli is a rising 7th grader in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She enjoys reading, writing, sketching, painting and biking. She also takes pleasure in other forms of art such as dance and as a violist in her school's orchestra. She hopes to inspire other young readers and writers with her pieces.
Read more winning entries from the 2023 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.