I Used to Look at The Sunset

Hey there, Mint! Rebel here for a short review!

Mint wrote:I used to look at the sunset and marvel at its beauty
We would tell each other, "you know those beautiful colors are caused by pollution?"
It was a joke then,
Not untrue, but said lightheartedly.
To cope with our existential dread
We look at the beautiful sunset

An interesting start to the poem - it seems that the poem is named by the its first line, cliché but cool. The narrator discusses with another (perhaps their loved one, or perhaps humanity in general), in joculation, that the beautiful colours of the sunset is caused by pollutants. My interpretation of "To cope with our existential dread" is to cope with the existential dread of climate change/global warming, or perhaps a personal thing of the narrator.

Mint wrote:Today I looked at the sunset
From my spot in the Arizona mountains
From my parents million dollar home that was dropped on top of the desert
It's beautiful there, at the house.
It's still surrounded by life.

Today when I looked at the sunset I saw dark pink smog over Phoenix
It used to be light
Baby pink kissing the horizon
Saying goodnight to the dark blue sky coming in.
It looked like smoke, but over everything.

The narrator describes the present time when they look out of their posh home now - perhaps the "million dollar home" is an allegory to how they, or well-off people in general, didn't care much about climate change before everyday things - sunset in this case - changed drastically. Also, I love the imagery and comparisons you have brought out in these two stanzas.

Mint wrote:The burnt yellow, pressed between pink-brown and the last light of blue sky,
It used to be orange-
A drawing in pastels that blended flower petals and sunlight into a blanket that covered the city.

This is my favourite stanza in the poem, the imagery, the alliteration, the stress pattern, the beat - everything just rolls off the tongue perfectly when you read it out loud.

Mint wrote:You know those beautiful colors?
They were made by pollution.
Now we don't laugh.
The colors linger much lower than I remember
They do not cover my dread in awe

You know those beautiful colors?
Well, they used to be beautiful
And we would joke to ourselves about how they were made of pollution.
I guess, in hindsight
It wasn't very funny

And the perfect conclusion! The change in nature is highlighted by the narrator, someone who lives in a posh home - used to be almost untouched by the plaints of the common man and their suffering caused by climate change - is now dreadful of their future and the future of humanity in general. The imagery and alliteration is cool too.

All in all, a cool read and an urgent message to humanity. Well, keep writing! :p

P.S.: This review is brought to you by Team Tortoise.

hi!! This is a beautiful poem. I love these lines,

You know those beautiful colors?
They were made by pollution.

This is repeated throughout the poem, and it means so much!! Its sad but also happy. Its saying that there is a pollution, but the pollution is also bringing a beauty. Its about the themes of hope in the worst times, and the picture represents that too. Its a sunset, where the light starts to give way to darkness, but its also beautiful.
And I also adore this line,

To cope with our existential dread

The imagery in the piece is so vivid, specially this,

The burnt yellow, pressed between pink-brown and the last light of blue sky,
It used to be orange-
A drawing in pastels that blended flower petals and sunlight into a blanket that covered the city.

I love the image that this sets up in my mind. Somehow the word 'burnt' also invokes a sense of nostalgia, and the orange colour too.
I love this whole poem. Please write more!!!

Hi there, this is Coffee dropping by to write a sunny review to brighten your spirits!
I love the background and design of this, it’s very simple yet pretty! The poem itself is quite powerful and starts from describing a beautiful sunset to the same description different message.
This is a very real thing by now and it’s concerning. It used to be a joke, or something people talked about occasionally and rolled their eyes at the power hungry oil companies and scrolled past “Save the Earth” posts on Insta.
Now, it’s real, it’s real whether we like it or not. We are taught about it in detail in school. Jobs are circulated around the issue, scientists are finding ways to reduce greenhouse gases. Our atmosphere is getting hotter.
Cars and roads in hot places like India are getting totally melted and people are dying.
That scares me. People are dying in hot places close to the equator and India is there. My whole family lives in India. If something happens to them because people like us have ruined the planet and people before us misused our resources…my parents and me would be alone. It’s a very real issue but then again. What can we do about it? Hell, I’m using a fricking IPAD to write this. It’s electric. Meaning harmful in a way.

“ They were made by pollution.
Now we don’t laugh. “

Overall, love the strong message this sends!! Great job and have a good time!