Winter Kill - April 7 2023

 

Winter Kill

April 7 2023

Winter hung on,

grim, grey, cold.

So when the geese returned

there was sparse open water

land covered in snow.

Buds, programmed to unfurl

froze.

And fish floundered,

hungry for air

in flat lightless lakes.

While we stewed and complained

at the late spring

depressing weather.

But when it does eventually come

it will be flood

mud

winter kill.

While summer will be hot and dry

and turn to fire.

And in autumn,

the leaves will be small

and fall too soon.

Then winter again.

Geese

unusually thin, and not that many

honking, bullying, taking flight.

To their feeding grounds.

Sensible birds

following the sun

to its southern sinecure.

Only to return

when the lake begins to thaw

and it smells of wet earth.

When I will search overhead

for the ragged Vs

that have always marked the season.

Only to see

an empty sky

In an eerily silent spring.

Ecological systems are complex and tightly coupled. They rely on dependable seasonal changes. We have expertly disrupted much of it.

When Rachel Carson talked about a silent spring, it was DDT. Now, it's everything: our consumption, lifestyle, waste, and human solipsism. The irreversible inertia of climate change. And solutions.? Too little, too late.