The Senses of the Amazon 

There’s something that all creatures fear in our forest. 

It never breathes. 

It never sleeps. 

It never lives. 

The birds hear it first.  

A foreboding rumble that never seems to stop, 

Emanating from a predator hidden in the trees.  

Limbs grow heavy as the birds shy away from the sound,  

Too loud for them to bear.  

The monkeys see it next.  

A humongous form of metal, 

Seemingly growing in height as it gets closer and closer. 

It tears trees from the roots upward, 

With barely a scratch on its steely body. 

The tree frogs smell the burning. 

It penetrates their nostrils with the scent of pollution, 

Making their eyes water and stinging their throats.  

The rainforest is unaccustomed to their silenced peeps.  

It scares them to death. 

The beetles feel the fear coursing through the creatures. 

They know their pain and sorrow, 

Understanding the detrimental effects this destruction has caused. 

The falling of each tree causes a massive impact, 

Each beetle plummeting from the branches to their doom. 

The plants taste the corruption of the forest. 

The refreshing drink of water is replaced with sour oil, 

The metal soaking into their roots. 

They have come to know the forest for centuries 

Yet shrivel away from the poisoned soil. 

The creatures have lived in this forest, 

Thriving for years upon years. 

But now a new leader has taken over, 

Leaving few survivors. 

The machine rules the land. 

The creatures lost the battle 

And feel it in their souls. 

The creatures are now dead, 

While the machine lives. 

—

The Amazon rainforest’s beginning stretches back to many, many millennia ago, before the existence of humans. It created a way for billions of creatures to all survive in the same landscape. But recently, within the last 40 years, the Amazon has been in trouble. And the results haven’t started to show until these last few years. The Amazon rainforest is catching on fire at a vast rate, and the deforestation rate is one the forest can’t sustain. It’s out of control. This occurred because the government and people living near the Amazon have little to no regard about what’s happening. Thy may seem indifferent, but they have bigger plans on their minds that seem better than that of saving a useless rainforest. The government, as of January 2019, has made drastic changes to the way Brazil hosts the Amazon rainforest, as well as other countries that like Bolivia. This must change so that the Amazon can return to its original state of well-being. 

As Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro changes his country’s policies into less environmentally friendly and more economically sound, the Amazon starts to burn. Many assume that the Amazon is burning because of climate change, and while that might play a role, the political changes show where the root problem actually lies. The government allows their own people to participate in the destruction of the forests in the Amazon. People destroy large amounts of the Amazon for their own gain every day and that continues to rise as less government action takes place. Bolsonaro is changing the way people perceive the Amazon all over Brazil, while the world watches the “lungs of the world” burn. 

Something needs to change within the way everyone around the world views the environment. People need to realize that they have a major impact on the environment and how people around the world see the destruction occurring, especially in the Amazon. The Amazon plays a key role in the prosperity of the world, so to watch it burn is like a cut right to the heart. We see many interconnections with how the government treats the environment and how that, in turn, causes the citizens of Brazil to destroy one of the only tropical forests still intact. The people don’t see an issue with what they do since their farming and economy has much more importance than that of the environment. Of course, there are always exceptions to these people, as many are also fighting the destruction of the Amazon. If the Amazon continues to burn, these people will lose their livelihoods and, potentially, their lives. The destruction of the Amazon rainforest will leave a lasting impact on how the governments treat the environment and how citizens react to these changes, whether positive or negative.