Ishaan Reddy

Poem to be displayed in the exhibit, Creative Change Makers: Sustainable Arts, Creating with Consciousness, at The Long Beach Arts & Cultural Center from April 8 to May 1, 2026

Patches of Green

In my youth I remember
driving down to a cabin in the woods
evergreens giving way to everdreams 
that I could stay there
and all would be okay
forever.

Yet now, that cabin is gone 
and those drives 
are mere patches of green 
in my sea of memories 

As I grew older
and walked to school
I would witness
the songbirds and snakes
wandering with no worries

Yet now, when I wander 
the same paths
my worries are merely buried
Snakes in the grass ready to strike,
But the snakes are nowhere to be found

As I once looked to my future
all I saw was a sea of green,
a utopia of forest and faune
where society could exist in peace
for an eternity

Yet, that future had long since faded
for just as the patches of green of my youth withered away
so too, did those of the Earth