No words for the lives, human and
non-human, lost to covid,
to extinction, to flood and famine,
to wildfire and winter storm.
No words for the ways of death
we keep living, in spite of clear evidence
that we are committing ecological genocide.
How to wrap one's mind and spirit
around the guilt of our species,
especially we white colonists
who have emptied the Garden,
and put nothing back?
The unsayable words: Mea culpa.
The unanswerable truth:
have we wakened too late
to restore and heal Mother Earth?
The icebergs are melting.
I say that calmly. But we should
be shrieking in terror:
The icebergs are melting!!!
The nightly news has become
a litany of devastation
to which we become immune
in order to live with
any hope at all.
The unsayable turns itself
into words at 2 a.m.,
as we lie awake
staring at the ceiling,
knowing the bill is coming due,
during our own lifetime,
knowing it will be our grandchildren
who will pay the steeper price.
Meanwhile, the conspiracy theorists
are setting matches to snow,
to see if it melts, because the Texas storm
had to be a hoax.
For them I have no words at all.
Their reason has fled.
for Brendan at earthweal: The Unsayable
I saw a report that some people actually believe the Texas snowstorm was a hoax. I think a portion of our human population has lost its mind. Sadly, they seem to have a lot of support in their determination to seize back control and make the rest of us as crazy as they are.
"Fake snow" link: https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/fake-snow-conspiracy-in-texas-after-winter-storm/news-story/dbcb767d1b5b5ae611ddb003524b2be8
As a species we are unutterably stupid for all our superior intelligence. True, some are stupider than others...
ReplyDeleteSetting matches to snow...that sums it up perfectly.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful write Sherry. You have brought out the devastating truth of our times. And how shamefully truthful that commonsense is also leaving grounds.
ReplyDeleteSome people have got so hooked on the awful catchphrase ‘fake news’ that they believe everything is a hoax. I think you are right, Sherry, that a portion of our human population has lost its mind. They are so busy trying to find it that they don’t see what’s happening right in from of them. These lines sum it all up:
ReplyDelete‘The unsayable words: Mea culpa.
The unanswerable truth:
have we wakened too late
to restore and heal Mother Earth?’
I try not to think about all the pets that froze to death in the Texas cold, how unsayable that is, how much the shadow of it stems from a collective denial I live and breathe. Great questions and sensing, Sherry.
ReplyDeleteWe do live in a fallen world. If only we each did our part. Much compassion in your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWow. Fake snow. I think you're right, they've lost their minds. It's like the Fall of Rome on a global scale. This stanza, especially, resonated with me:
ReplyDelete'The nightly news has become
a litany of devastation
to which we become immune
in order to live with
any hope at all.'
It is truly appalling and frightening what people choose to believe. 10 years ago I would never have dreamed it possible that people would turn their back on truth.
ReplyDeleteLove your poem Sherry. What I think about those who deny reality is unsayable. And of course, I grieve and lament with you.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly AMAZED at what is going on these days and considered normal. I never would have believed things could get this crazy. Or how many people reel into the huge HOAX festering among right wing extremists.
ReplyDeleteI think you have found the words here, Sherry, the unsayable. A perfect response to Brendan's prompt...JIM
ReplyDeleteYour poem traces the horror of this time so well. The last verse made me chuckle (or is that weeping?) The conspiracy theorists are beyond belief. Suzanne of Mapping Uncertainty
ReplyDeleteHard to know how to respond to your poem except to nod in agreement and shake my head in disbelief at the same time.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to be unable to take responsibility of anything we have done to destroy this planet... I think when we realize that we might be extinct because of what we do.
ReplyDelete"The unsayable turns itself
ReplyDeleteinto words at 2 a.m.,
as we lie awake
staring at the ceiling . . . "
I am so silent when I should be screaming . . . .
Hello Sherry, your poem hits the nail on the head. It's a sad truth that we, as a people, avoid/hide from the effect we have on nature and each other. Your lines "especially we white colonists
ReplyDeletewho have emptied the Garden,
and put nothing back?" really struck a cord with me.