Then All of a Sudden . . .
Jan 10 2024
It’s confirmed: 2023 was the planet’s warmest year on record and perhaps in the last 100,000 years. By far. (The New York Times - Jan 9 2024)
The snowman
smaller than normal
looks forlorn
slumping in the front yard;
the carrot nose has fallen out,
twig arms
droop despondently
in a kind of a shrug.
Instead of lasting the winter, as usual
I expect it to collapse
in just a few days.
And thinking back
fireflies were scarce this year
deer encounters infrequent.
The grass hardly needed cutting
in a dry summer
of record heat.
Even the black flies weren’t bad
which happens only rarely;
and while it made us glad
I'm not sure the birds were thrilled.
Something has changed in the world,
irreversibly
and for the worst.
And I’m worried
that it’s the sort of change
that happens slowly, then in a rush;
like on a cliff edge
looking down.
A warm winter, little snow.
But so far, life goes on as before;
no shared sense of urgency
no political will.
Life is too comfortable,
denial too easy,
deferment too natural.
Perhaps because catastrophe
seems unimaginable,
and for most of us
the day-to-day
is more than enough.
The sum
of all of human experience
has not prepared us for this.
Inertia
will be our undoing.
Failure to act
and act together
our collective end.
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