Dr Mashael Kamran, DARe Research Associate from the University of Cambridge, shares two of her poems.
Blog
'Roads: Where the Wild Used to Be' and 'Transition in Perspective' (Poems)
Roads: Where the Wild Used to Be
No matter what brand
You seem to fill the land
Where I once used to play
The soil gave way to grey
And your speed clouds the breath of day
As you flood the air with your CO2
You emit higher like a funnel
Up the flyway and down through the tunnel
To make more room, just for you
Shaped just for you
I am strained to your order
Like a machine, I am to follow
For my mess has no space
As you gain all the fame
I seem to disappear!
Transition in Perspective
From fire to coal
Riding camels to aircraft travels
Building shelters to rockets
Brilliant art showcased under the stratosphere and beyond
To produce an artwork worth millions on paper
To satisfy the so-called desire for a ‘better life’
Yet we often miss
The Earth’s own song, its gentle bliss.
Like stretching melodies, in pursuit of dreams
Where one aligns, but the other tears
For all is beauty, when beauty meets harmony
In the dance of time, this reckless chase
Its nor the desire or the artefacts placed
but rather the mindset we hope to change.
"These poems are a critique on things like the expansion of car-centric mobility infrastructure as a force that leaves less room for ecological growth and human spontaneity. They highlight the need to reimagine the transport paradigm that integrates sustainable travel and green infrastructure within the built environment, supporting both ecological systems and spatial freedoms."
Dr Mashael Kamran (poem author), DARe Research Associate, University of Cambridge