WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! SUBMISSIONS WILL OPEN IN FALL 2024!

The naked mountains are mine,
the fissured sand dunes are mine, 

mine are the burning clouds in the sky, 

For it was promised that I
shall inherit the earth—
all of it. 

 

The raging ravines are mine,
the littered carcass on the beach are mine, 

mine are the balding grasslands,
and receding tree lines,
they are all mine. Yes, I will take 

everything you have left. 

 

You keep your smart-thermostat 

regulated living rooms, 

everything else is mine.
The sterile soil is mine, 

the hemlock in water is mine,
the molten corals are mine.
You float in your dreamy Pegasus, 

the thirsty mustangs are mine. 

 

​
 

Pradeep Niroula is a graduate student trying to punctuate his research in physics with a little bit of poetry. 2019–2020 Kind Writers Contest Notable Recognition.