the big news comes out
of the arctic: but nobody wants to hear about the arctic – there’s only like – what? – five reindeer herders up there – and maybe santa and some elves – i mean, come on! no, you don’t want to hear about the arctic. so, we don’t talk about the arctic on this poem. but closer to home, at the univ. of kansas, today is “stop day” – no classes! no exams! – not to be confused w/ “day zero,” which is a thing now: it’s the day yr town, city, or country runs out of h2o. if it’s not “word of the year” this year, it’ll be “phrase of the year” – or if not this year, soon, b/c wherever you are, day zero is nearer than u think. sure, it sounds a little like dies ire, but it’s not, b/c mother earth doesn’t get mad she just gets even – but not evenly: most of the world is ok today, but southern africa descends into famine; namibia’s reservoirs at 19% of normal; zambia stopped hydroelectricity from dam of largest reservoir in the world (not so full, tho: only 10% of usable storage); 5.5 m in s. sudan face famine after years of drought & months of deluge; & it blizzards in iceland as it heatwaves in alaska; & australia . . . omygod, australia . . . chaos: hottest place in the world yesterday, w/towns in the interior flat out of water; brushfires spread over the east coast (pumping 275 tons of co2 into the air), temps in the hi 90s while the country’s s.e. flash floods (super- cell on the “sunshine coast”); plus “biblical” inundations in: zwazulu natal, trinidad, murcia, bogotá, & other places u.s.americans don’t even bother to google; hottest nov. ever in new zealand; 95f at dawn in bueos aires. the end. meanwhile, back in the rest of the world, we hope the COPout-25 produces action – we’re cautiously optimistic, you know? what with greta thunberg and all? (she’s person of the year! that’s progress, right?) & if the experts don’t fix it, we won’t know what hit us, so why worry live in the moment w/ the food and water we’ve got so, jesus, joe, don't ruin it for everyone!
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June 2021
Kristin Prevallet Author/Editor
I'm a writer & teacher in Lawrence, Kansas who actually believes the scientists. I wrote a book of poems called Of Some Sky that seems to have something to do with all this. |