Please Explain it to the Animals

[image from theaustralian.com.au]

This morning,
on the news,
I saw an image
that sickened my heart,
and brought
the message home:
floodwaters in Australia
so high
the houses
are floating,
and two horses,
still alive,
floating too,
trying to keep
themselves afloat
by resting
their tired heads
in the corners of
the rooftops.

[AP photo Tracy Woods]

What do you think?
Should we hold
another Kyoto?
Another Conference of Words
while nothing changes?
Do you suppose
world leaders
will believe, now,
in global warming?

Might they vote for
tougher measures
Now,
not in some
comfortably far-off date
that wont upset the
status quo?

Will someone
please
explain
to the animals
-and apologize,
while they are at it-
what has happened
to this
one and only
planet
in the name of
Progress?