Poetry: Letter From A Former Cook

You saw my grief when my wife
was attacked and killed by a wild boar
Deep in the forest where she had gone
to collect wood for the home fire
to feed the children.
How else to light the sigdi*
Without wood or coal?

ALSO READ: Dante’s Peak: Heatwave Horror In Photos

The trees were our home, our livelihood,
Did they think of us when
They planned to cut them down?
Did the environment not weep then?

I hear talk about the future of the planet
They tell us to reduce this, reduce that
We have so little to reduce.
Strange talk swirls around me
like mists in my mountain home.

ALSO READ: Can India Keep Its Net-zero Emissions Pledge?

What about our present? Who cares for our needs?
The rich have gas and electric stoves
Wool coats for warmth in winter
Savings for their future, plans for world cruises,
Where will I build a home
when I retire?
What kind of stove will I cook on?
How will I feed the hunger fire in my belly?

ALSO READ: Doom And Gloom: Climate Change Poses Growing Threats To India's Poor

Will I have a choice?
Will I have a voice?
Will I take the blame for Global Warming?
Will the planet cool down
Without my sigdi?

*sigdi: A coal and wood stove used for cooking in North India

ALSO READ

Withering Heights: Battle For Survival In India’s Red Zone

Belly Of The Beast: How Climate Change Is Affecting India’s Farmers

Waterworld! Rising Seas Pose A Threat To Millions Living Along India’s Coastline

Fire In The Hill! What’s Burning In Himachal Pradesh?

The Ides Of March: Heatwave Strikes

It's All In The Head: How Heatwave Induces Death, Despair And Bad Mental Health

Red Zone Diary: Surviving Hell In Vidarbha

Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca was an instructor of english, french and spanish before debuting as a poet in 1989