Climate Hope

I used to drown myself

in a sea of articles with titles

that read “Vanishing Islands 

Gone by 2050”.

It became easy to imagine

my archipelago’s fate

as a washed-out graveyard

swallowing up the un-fled,

Aquamarine gem 

smudged off the world’s frowning face

with a quick, careless swipe 

of Western man’s hand,

a narrative so certain

and scientific, I nearly forgot

that I was brought up

on resilience.

As if I did not

watch us rebuild

after each “once-in-a-century”

Hurricane Dorian, Matthew, and Irma.

As if my people,

loud and vibrant

like the parrots parading our skies,

could ever concede to despair.

So now, when I sit in a classroom 

where the projections, timelines, and percentage losses

have worn into my mind

like storms onto our coast,

I think about

how many kids I want to have 

and what their names will be.

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Zoe Brown is a biologist and poet from The Bahamas, currently based in Oxford as she pursues her PhD. She writes poetry rooted in her personal experiences, exploring themes of identity, race, nature, and the heart

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Julia Panova is an artist engaging with the simplest materials and most familiar forms—sketches, manuscripts, and monochrome prints—drawing from memory, embracing its inherent flaws and the unexpected truths in its inaccuracy. Follow Julia on Instagram: @blamecake