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Green is Greed and Green is Power
by Ruth Port (United Kingdom)
April 2021
Audio: "Green is Greed and Green is Power," read by Helen Grant
Green are the strands of the winner's laurel;
green is the step of his podium as he stares over the crowd;
green are the eyes that narrow with cunning, mirroring the
green heart that beats and forgets that it is mortal—
green is the money that makes the world go round;
green are the stained tongues that lap at the feet of those
green, grinning, in designer suits and rosy cheeks, flooding
green pastures so that the bones of those below are drowned and
green is where I want you to stop.
Green is where I want you to look below the surface and see the corpses of those who came before and those who will follow. Do you want your throne built on nothing but smoke and grief? And not any old smoke, oh no, the smoke that corrupts and crawls and climbs and cries and sits and slimbers and wriggles and writhes and claws and snarls and bites and licks and takes your life from your fingertips and this is where I want you to see that we should live in harmony with the wind and the rain and the treetops too—
green is where we made our home,
green is where we are cradled in the earth,
green are the tears that the flowers cry,
green is the colour that always makes me think “why?”
Ruth Port is an 18-year-old writer from England. When she’s not delving into the fantasy worlds inside her head, she enjoys reading, baking and exploring the woods with her friends.
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Clare
5/26/23, 6:23 AM
Congratulations Claire - this is a powerful piece - this feeling of a yearning for a home that may not even exist anymore will be something that everyone who lives outside of their original homeland will resonate with. Well done.
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Love the words I mean the way you coin the letters bravo! And also a fellow Nigerian as well good luck
Quin Tesa
5/25/23, 9:27 PM
Love the words I mean the way you coin the letters bravo! And also a fellow Nigerian as well good luck
Akinlose Emmanuel
5/24/23, 11:04 AM
An amazing piece, quite figurative and exciting to read.
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:18 AM
It's staggering just how many topics this poem can apply to. Very eye opening. 10/10
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:14 AM
Although it may seem simple on the surface it is quite charming to see just how much thought and effort was put into understanding how a cat acts and thinks.
Adin Underwood
5/6/23, 12:10 AM
I liked how even though each line was different it always came back to the central theme.
Sarah Parker
4/28/23, 3:01 PM
This was a wonderful piece to read. I can't imagine haven't been told about periods and sex. I was in fifth grade when I took a class. And even then, there were things they left out. This was a really important topic to write about. Great job!!
Sarah Parker
4/28/23, 3:01 PM
This was a wonderful piece to read. I can't imagine haven't been told about periods and sex. I was in fifth grade when I took a class. And even then, there were things they left out. This was a really important topic to write about. Great job!!