Kingdom Come, an Eco-Artist's Impression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Copyright R. N. Taber 2020
Today's poem first appeared on the blog in 2010
While
the coronavirus is not on the wane everywhere just yet, and second waves of it
are all but inevitable, climate change is unlikely to go away at all; we only
have to look at what is happening in Iceland to see how real is the threat that
has been looming across the world for years, and underestimated - if not
conveniently put to one side - by successive world leaders. A reader asks, do I
think Covid-19 could be linked to climate change? Well, I have no idea, any
more than I suspect has anyone else, but I wouldn't be surprised ...
What are we doing to
the planet? How many more trees must be felled, wildlife lose their habitats
(and lives) on land and in the seas before humankind realizes how short sighted
it is being? (The old adage is so true, that we rarely - if ever - appreciate
what we have until we lose it.)
Will
future generations forgive us? (I suspect with great difficulty, if at all.)
It is all
very well to acknowledge global warming, but how much longer can we shrug off
any blame for it? it? The time to make reparation is by positive action
NOW, surely? How many more world conferences and all but meaningless gestures
before our politicians risk upsetting this lobby or that and get to grips with
the longer-term consequences of playing ostrich?
Too
lightly, many people continue to brush such questions and issues aside. After
all, they argue, there is plenty of time to save the planet.
Ah, but
is there…? It is an old but significant truism that time waits for no one.
Yes, our
politicians claim to empathise with Green campaigners, but could they perhaps
do (far) more to back up their word with actions…or could it be they are but
paying lip service to increasing electorate (and business) concerns?
At
school, I once overheard my Religious Education teacher refer to Armageddon as
'the death of common sense' to which my art teacher commented that it
would be an appropriate theme for graffiti art among the corridors of power
just about anywhere in the world. 70+ years on, I am inclined to agree with
both.
How dare
our so-called 'betters' be complacent, close their eyes to unpalatable home
truths for fear of losing out in the short term. Too many politicians are hot
on rhetoric, at election times in particular, but - as always - the devil is in
the detail, and invariably less convincing for anyone who has the time or
patience to shovel away at the rhetoric and see what lies beneath..
Another
reader wrote in recently to ask, "We are a common humanity on a common
Earth so where is any sense of common responsibility regarding Green
issues?"
KINGDOM COME, AN ECO-ARTIST'S IMPRESSION
The sky
is red
where
once it was blue;
trees
turning yellow;
streams,
trickles of blood
on a
baby's cot...
Time,
caught taking a nap
in Earth
Mother’s bed
The
forest is dead
where
once trees grew tall,
birds
would nest,
one beast
best another
as
required…
by
nature’s rule of thumb,
its
kingdom come
The
world, gone quiet
where
once people played,
would
laugh and sing,
yet sure
to best one another
as
required …
by
nature’s rule of thumb,
our
kingdom come
The sky
is red
where
once it was blue;
trees,
turning yellow;
Earth
Mother last heard of
treading
mud,
weeping
the world’s playing
Truth or
Dare...?
Copyright R. N. Taber 2020
Labels: climate change, collective, common sense, complacency, conservation, Earth, future, greed, human nature, life, mortality, nature, one-upmanship, planet, poetry, pollution, power, responsibility, social, society
posted by R. N. Taber | 07:08
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