Martin Kiszko is a poet, composer and screenwriter. He has composed over two hundred scores for film and television and released eight albums. He is popularly known as the UK's 'Green Poet'. Whose Place Is It Anyway is from his collection of poems - 'Green Poems for a Blue Planet'.
The golden mole is threatened by the workings of a mine,
The pine marten and polecat live on borrowed time.-
Hippos cannot hide from illegal poacher' guns,
Do the cheetahs of Botswana watch their last setting suns?
As Arctic ice dissolved and polar bears decline,
Can the wolves of Ethiopia trust humankind?
Will the whitetip shark and angel shark avoid the fishing trawl?
How soon until the Mpingo tree takes its final fall?
The manta ray is troubled by pollution of the waters,
While cats of the Andes scarper from a slaughter.
Will the jaguar outrun the hunter's cold pursuit?
Can we save our ponds for the Great crested newt?
Will snakes find their lairs as habitat turns to road?
Does a parking lost come first or the Puerto Rican toad?
Will koalas in their hollows survive the ruthless logging?
Shall we bother to find out or is that just too much slogging?
Why don't we remember those with whom we share the Earth?
And why won't we honour and value their true worth?
We can't let our best friends simply vanish without trace,
So let's work together and restore their rightful place.
What are the threats faced by the hippos and the wolves of Ethiopia?
What does 'watch their last setting suns' mean?
What are the reasons for the decline of polar bears, and whitetip sharks and angel sharks?
What do you understand from 'Will the jaguar outrun the hunter's cold pursuit'?
What is the snake in danger of?
What message does the speaker convey in the last stanza of the poem?