ecology

May 14, 2023

NO HARRY

There is no Houdini today, no
master of escapology, only sleight
of hand that cannot provide
a release from our self-
made shackles, for we have
failed to learn the secrets
that might have saved us.
We were stubborn, figured that
we could solve the problem later,
read a book, looked to a new master
but those new masters have only
perfected the art of illusion and that
was our delusion, that we could
magically escape from the prison,
the ecological and natural prison
that we have created for ourselves

May 7, 2023

RECESSION

The lake is slowly receding, fading,
the lake we created arrogantly
assuming that when it came
to nature, we could be godlike.
It’s withdrawal has revealed
cars, boats and bodies
we had not expected there,
put by intention or accident,
laid bare by nature, once
our devoted servant we imagined
then a prophet we so callously ignored, now
in a retribution carefully ordained,
the angel of destruction
visiting singular plagues
of drought upon us, and we know
there are other plagues in store
unless we do what we should have
some time ago, and we know we will
collectively suffer for the obstinacy
of the few who value greed so highly.

April 26, 2023

WHAT IF

Stop and imagine for one moment
what it would be like if:

during hunting season
the deer were armed with AR15’s
and hunters with a bow and arrow.

the mud wasp, docile insect
that you go after with a shovel
comes armed with a can of poison spray

the raccoon eating your garden
that you wanted to trap and take
into the countryside instead
trapped you and left you
in the middle of absolutely nowhere

or even if none of those, what if
in your next life you come back
as a deer, a mud wasp, or a raccoon?

March 29, 2023

EPITAPH FOR ANOTHER DAY

When I write the story
of my life, it will not be
me standing by the sea
staff in hand, waiting
for the waters to part.
It will be sand, endless
seas of sand, piled
around my feet.
I will not recount ten plagues
for there is only one
that matters at all
and it was not
terribly exciting,
no generation perished,
we weren’t overrun
with frogs or vermin
save the odd infestation
of cockroaches
and the passing rat
that makes faces
at the cat cowering
in the corner.
I could have climbed
that damned mountain,
but the thought of dragging
two great tablets back down
with the poor footing,
it just wasn’t worth it.
It has been over forty years
wallowing around in the sand
until it caked between my toes
and not a cursed thing
has happened, just sand
and writing on the sand
grows tiresome
after the first breeze.
Actually I don’t care
if I never see this new land, just
get me away
from this godawful sand.

First appeared in KotaPress Poetry Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 2, 2000
http://www.kotapress.com/journal/Archive/journal_V2_Issue1/journal28.htm

March 17, 2023

HYMNAL

Open to page 147 of your hymnals.
There is nothing to sing there
for the words of promise once
found there have withered
and faded, carried off on now
toxic winds, so hold your breath
or whatever heaven you imagine
will be too soon be approaching
at a speed exceeding imagination.

You don’t remember how you got here,
things happened around you
when you weren’t paying attention
but, you say, what can you do
about it, it’s not your problem
so you are happy to let someone
else deal with it, you are sure
it will be dealt with if you
stay out of the way, do nothing.

So while you are blindly waiting
perhaps you can join the others
just like you, in your final prayers.

March 4, 2023

WRITTEN

It was written for all to see
but went unseen as no one
entered the portal willingly,
never sufficient curiosity
to offset the foreboding.
Everyone knew what it said
but knowing and seeing are
separated by an unbridgeable chasm.
It remained an imposed solitude,
an isolation inherent in location,
implicit in a world spinning
off its moral axis, time extended
and compressed, an irregular pulse.
It was written in a long
forgotten language, a warning
etched into the walls of time
faded from inattention, left
to stare out knowing the outcome
they would never see until it arrived.

February 23, 2023

PAUSING

As the rivers dry up
and lakes become ponds
we are finding things we
never thought we would see.
An old warship in Europe,
dinosaur footprints, cars
and, sadly, the bones of some.
We stop momentarily to marvel
at these discoveries, then
withdraw to our homes where we
hope we can escape the heat,
our air conditioners working overtime,
the power plants strained.
Yet we never stop to think
that the day may be too soon
coming when it will be
our bones littering the landscape,
victims of our own abuse
of the planet we thought that
we held dominion over.

First published in OUR CHANGING EARTH: Vol.1. The Poet. 2023.

January 5, 2023

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY

I am just wondering
what you would say
if you were called
to testify about all
that you had seen,
all that had disgusted you,
all that you condemned
but did and said
nothing while it occurred.
What would you say
if you had no choice
but truth, no shading,
no mincing of words,
just the harsh light
and you in a chair
in an empty room,
a disembodied voice
asking endless questions?
It is best that you
remain silent, say
nothing at all,
for we have already
judged you, and you
know your own guilt.

First appeared in Literary Cocktail Magazine, Fall Issue 2022, Volume I Issue II
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VEgeWfNp5SFGSm8nW8QegM1WuNUa_s99/view

November 26, 2022

FOUR WETLAND HAIKU

Apple Snail shell
bleached by the sun, empty
happy Snail Kite

Great Egret sitting still
waiting, simply waiting
then flying off

Red-shouldered hawk
staring into the distance
endless patience

Pig frog croaking
but the moon will not answer
we fall asleep

October 9, 2022

ODE TO PATIENCE

The jetty is replete today
with tourists, pale as the sun
bleached concrete, stopping
to gawk at the fishermen
who ignore them intent
on watching the sadly still line.

The pelicans sit on the rocks
grooming and posing, talking
loudly on occasion before
spreading wings and flying off.
Out on the jetty a pelican waits
patiently for the fisherman
to pack up for the day, knowing
he will dump his bait bucket
on the concrete and the pelican
will be rewarded for his patience.