PULITZER CENTER UPDATEJUNE 26, 2024

In this seventh annual contest, The Pulitzer Center received 1,400 entries written by students in 16 countries, 36 U.S. states, and the District of Columbia. We are grateful to every student who used this contest as an opportunity to learn about global issues, cultivate empathy, and take action through their writing.

Every year, students around the world participate in the Fighting Words Poetry Contest by identifying a global issue that matters to them and writing poems in conversation with Pulitzer Center-supported news stories on those issues.

This year marked the seventh annual contest, and The Pulitzer Center received 1,400 entries written by students in 16 countries, 36 U.S. states, and the District of Columbia. Poems were inspired by and included lines from Pulitzer Center reporting, bringing new life and perspectives to underreported news stories. Entries were judged in five categories based on the issue they engaged: Climate and Environment, Global Health, Human Rights, Information and Artificial Intelligence, and Peace and Conflict. 

No Land Between Us

By Rohan Packer
7th grade | British International School | Istanbul, Turkey
First place contest winner, Climate and Environment category

I. A Mother’s Lament

I fled as the world
was broken asunder
glancing back
at the devastation
hearing only the pounding
of my feet and heart
Caved in homes
gashed trees, trampled crops
and livelihoods
Rage threatened to choke
Our government
stands by
as the animals rampage
We flee before the elephants
as they march forth
as they encroach
on our land (or is it theirs?)
But is it us
pushing them onwards
with our machines
our lust for money…
precious palm oil
But no money for me
or for my children
Only a striving
a fight to live
yet to little avail
Powerless against pachyderms
I stalked back to the ruins
knowing full well they
would trumpet back
But I march forth
all the same
for my children need to eat

***

II. An Elephant’s Search

I storm across the
desolate earth
past the tiny apes and
their metallic demons
ripping down trees,
once so proud and sturdy
now charred ash and splintered wood
trampling the budding saplings
so that the tortured earth groans
The villages choke off all escape
yet still offer salvation…
Amidst the barren landscape
hard and unyielding
lush trees still blossoming
offering delectable tastes
not only to soothe the hollow
in my own stomach
but also my baby’s savage pain
so weak and small
so vulnerable, yet so brave
standing strong
And so for her I march forth
screaming as the lightning
smote me on the fence
I shove it aside
with a thick stick
with nimble strokes
As the apes flee
I rampage, striking blindly
snatching branches
of crisp leaves
And so we continue on despite
fires and lightning and cold iron
my baby and me

***

III. Rising from the Ashes

I walk about the devastation
the desolation
already formulating
desperate
yet futile
plans for renewal
as my home
my hard earned crops
are stolen
by both the wildlife
and grasping companies.

***

IV. Knife’s Edge

My baby munches
on luscious leaves
milling about contentedly
but still I gaze anxiously
at the plumes of smoke
Our home, my land
usurped by the apes
forcing us further and
further away from
migration corridors
trod by my mother
and her mother before
into an uncertain future,
prowling on a knife’s edge.

Rohan Garg Packer will be attending 8th grade at Ideaventions Academy in Virginia after spending the last three years living in Istanbul, Turkey, where he studied at the British International School. He enjoys chess, writing, and reading, especially fantasy. He’s honored by the Pulitzer Center’s recognition, and hopes to continue writing and learning about ecological and environmental issues.

Comments from judge Irene Vázquez: The power of the persona poem to bring us in tune with our non-human kin is on full display in this poem. I love the bold use of perspective in “No Land Between Us” and the intimate way it brings the concerns of the humans and the elephants onto the same plane, illuminating for the reader how each is uniquely subject to the whims of corporate greed.