It's only February, and I'm sitting
by the back door...
I look at the ruin
of what was left undone
when winter's darkness fell
and I gave up the dream
that I might help these reliable lovers
sleep comfortably;
yesterday one bare shrub
at the top of my road
that should be resting
showed her confusion:
amid the bare limbs, two clusters
pink tight white
so suggestive
of the coiled Spring
had sprung already
into our so-grey days.
So surprising.
But it's only February;
And there were
tornadoes on the Gulf of Mexico this week,
in Arkansas,
which is surely the bottom of a trench
dug by time and great rivers
through your continent heart.
Perhaps it is what they say
or the hand of God
as others say.
All I know is
fires floods fierce winds
are nature's way to erase enemies,
and her indifference to our suffering
is a challenge to humanity
which we fail and fail.
It's only February, and I
see, without question:
a gauntlet, down
even at my back door.
Author notes
I don't believe it's our job to stop global warming although I'd like to see us stop this terrible ridiculous rush on resources... but the outwash of it - our perennial failure to respond with compassion to the huge suffering of the displaced and despairing is surely a condemnation of our wasteful way of life...
On a lighter note: this was a freewrite, any notes for me?
What do you think?
Comments
1 - 17 of 17
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Sad comment on a little listened to situation.
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I recently read an article that said most of Tokyos population will not make sacrifice to save the planet.
Its unfortunate and its at least nice to see others with a similar sentiment to mine. Hopefully we will not completely destroy, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed :-/
Good read, I enjoyed it, keep up the great work! I really enjoyed the "gauntlet" idead, its pretty awesome!
-RD
. Rewarded 8
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nice effort
sometimes just decribing a problem is all v can do.this poem is nice and hav a pulse for global warming.its is written in beautiful way and hav perfect form.
. Rewarded 4
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Alex - I´ve seen so much of what in your comments you termed "...failure...(of) compassion fo the huge suffering of the displaced and despairing..." I mentioned it to a woman in India, wondering how the government could let this go on. She said "because it keeps them in their place." Given that attitude along with the overwhelming corruption in so many governments throughout the world and we have what we have.
I really liked the stanza about the early shrub, everything´s confused and screwed up because the oil billionaires just don´t have quite enough money yet. Cheers, MJ
. Rewarded 8
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yesterday one bare shrub
at the top of my road
that should be resting
showed her confusion:
amid the bare limbs, two clusters
pink tight white
so suggestive
of the coiled Spring
had sprung already
into our so-grey days.
Packed with imagery Alex
You make such a good point, global warming, all these odd weather things that are happening. I wonder how many really pay attention, really care.. but yes then some care so much but in the wrong ways, doing, spending money on the wrong things....I wish I knew the answer, the perfect solution lol
But I know you do, form reading this. Sad some of your words becuase they are the truth, still I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.
Dont have any suggestions, one cause its 12.30am lol and I cant think to technicl right now lol but two I like it how it is, flowing well and nice work on vocabulary and punctuation
Cindy
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All we can do is something
and all we can do is what we can. Writing is something I hope! Glad you resonate with the writing, I was pleased, it sort of slid into the world. Best RA
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A poet can see so much from her back door, and you've seen worlds in this one, alex. Strong poetic "warning" about human greed and penchant for possessiveness, waste and war. And most of that dirty business is to be laid at the feet of the industrialized nations, mine at the head of the line, though others aren't all that far behind. Sad.
But, as your poem bravely says, nature's indifference can be our challenge, and just because we little ones can't do everything about the climatic mess, doesn't mean we can't do anything. So, I, reluctantly for sure, separate the trash for recycling possibilities, and try to drive the car with limits, doing a few days' runaround chores on one drive, if possible, and so forth. So, I feel the grief of your poem a lot, ra, and its poetic prophecy summed up in your "one bare shrub." Really nice work; balanced and still forceful. Good read for me.
Lad. Rewarded 8
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We are being encouraged by the government
...to save our 10% of energy consumption, 20% by 2012 but we all play play ostrich I fear... but last week it just struck so close to home - fight the good fight Lad, keep on truckin', mate. But however good consumers are it's the big boys that need talking to - I guess that's what politics are for (!) Best RA
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I enjoyed it
It is wonderful to see someone else who has noticed the same things as me! I do think we can do things to help slow the environmental affects from Global warming though.
Anywho, It is descriptive and i like that. Easy for me to picture and it brings the issue to the reader's mind.
Good write,
Ashley
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Easter Island? Bees? Those are a great
...idea for a poem... what an idea, the past , there was that Spaceship Earth idea wasn't there, some guy like Hyerdahl or someone talking about them... thanks for bringing these back to me, it really is just one big scenario, isn't it, Al? Best RA -
Thanks Ashley,
sometimes the simplest images and experiences make the best poems, I'm pleased with this one. Nice to catch up with you again! Best RA
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I like the purpose in your notes.
So many think "hey, it doesn't affect me". Hmmmm, those hundreds of thousands of islanders, Sri-lankans and Malaysians, etc. at just above sea-level are going to need someplace to live, and it may be where we live. Fishing industries will be displaced, driving up the costs of sea-food. And currents will change in the ocean, altering sea-life migration patterns and creating difficulties for harvesting food from the ocean. Everything is interconnected in one great symbiotic mass and we're part of that living collage. I've heard tell that honey-bees are disappearing from the world as well. In parts of China, there are no more honey bees, requiring hand pollination for fruit crops. Thousands of people are required to do the job of a hive of bees, just so we can have Asian Pears. It is said at the current pace of bee decimation that soon the only crops being naturally pollinated will be those that are wind dependent, those being grains, corn, etc. The cost of fruit will increase astronomically by virtue of necessary hand pollination.
I often look to Easter Island, windswept and devoid of any life but grasses. The archaeological history there is a perfect microcosm of what happens when man uses without consideration for regrowth and sustainability. Israel used to be a jungle with elephants, tigers and such. Now it is a desert. All of these things have happened before our very eyes and yet still the corporations say pshawwww until it hits them in the pocket-book. The only reason that anyone is doing anything about global warming now is because of the insurance industry lobbyists. Payouts on an expanded storm season are decimating the insurance industry, hence they raise rates, hence the cost to corporations is greater, hence they get on board to do something about it.
I think we're trying now. I hear you on the rush on resources.I have been encouraged to see logic reign in marketing. Things such as concentrated detergent encourage me. How long have we spent twice, three times the money on packaging, hauling, shelf-spacing and land-filling bloated products inflated to look bigger and thus appear a better value? I think consumers now are more educated and I am encouraged to see efforts at conservation. Things such as carbon credits encourage me. Corporations contribute money to combat global warming in the form of "carbon credits", money that is used to plant more trees, create cleaner factories, etc. I think we're trying now. Even though there has been empirical date confirming global warming for years, no one paid attention until Al Gore brought it to the forefront, and even then he was laughed at. I have been pleased to see that now what has been known for years is considered a plausible reality.
Venus is perhaps Easter Island to our Earth. Perhaps we ought to pay attention to the voice of experience. I think we are and getting better all the time.
I enjoyed this, Alex. Things do seem to be going crazy in the world today and it needs to be told. Poetry with an environmental conscience; maybe poetry is good for something after all...
Nice work, alex.
al
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RL saved my comment for when I had time to do this piece justice....so well done. You have taken the daunting "its bigger than I am" picture and nailed it down to something that is personal. well done//////1 LD
. Rewarded 4
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hey ra
a good write, global warming is a scientific issue and now a political one but this was very poetic. it made those little blooming flowers seem so ominus.
i'm a bit confused as to why you don't think its our job to strp GW, if were the ones that are causing it, that means we can stop it, and isn't self-preservation in our best interests, not to mention the rest of the planet?
dave. Rewarded 8
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Hi Dave, nice to hear fro you!
I don't think the evidence says we're causing it exactly, but we've set a cycle off and are making it much worse and faster... and in our short-sighted and human way placed 70% of the whole human population ( not a real number) along coastal areas where things are going to get hairy...but look what happened in N'Orleans, it's still a mess and that's in the world's weathiest and most generous country...
Anyway, I'm not convinced we can stop it as ice-ages are something this planet has known for a billion years. The ol earth, she just gets fed up with those pesky dominant species every few million years and shrugs them off like a dog shaking off a dip in the lake... but who knows?
I am not one for great faith in science and Bruce WIllis and his roustabout mates rescuing us from destruction. We can't work together long enough to eradicate smallpox, TB, or polio though that's a cinch by modern standards... We just have to waste our time and resources blowing each other to hell. It seems to be compulsory... we have NOT evolved far enough to wise up.
That would be the path out this mess, a little human evolution beyond the dumb competitive greed that dominates so much human history...
So I set out my soap-box and all I bloody do is write and shout and do my cycling and re-cycling and get upset when my friends won't do their bit to save their 10% of their energy consumption though it would be so easy to do it!!!
Better get off it now though...
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Perceptive response to issues near and far away
Better than my global warming poem on AP!! I liked the transition from the first two stanzas thru the line "so surprising" and on to the nezt set of thoughts. The transitional line seemed to point both ways, up and down.
On our street a Jacaranda tree bloomed 3 months early, and then sat barren while all the other Jacarandas in the area were in bloom. Signals crossed.
"continent heart"? or 'continental heart'?
Outwash: Couldn't agree more. Our consumptive waste of natural resources is matched by our indifference to human suffering.
Personally, I think that climate change in the present case, is the result of irresponsible human action. Based on human history, I see no evidence that we will be able to reverse those actions and lifestyles that brought it about.
. Rewarded 8
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A pleasure to respond to your read...
Thanks GG, I was just sitting here, a little non-plussed at the warmth of the season, and it seemed to grow quite like Topsy.
I used "continent" rather than "continental" or "continent's" heart because I like the conceit of something eroding out away from something so fiercely held...
I doubt we'll be able to do anything about GW but we could respond far better to each other than we do and that's the truth.
Best
RA
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