Reducing Carbon Emissions is All Well and Good, but...

Agency's a joke, you know,
A silly claim that humans
Make to try to glorify themselves.
These masters of the planet
With their free wills and their
Separation from the world
In which they live, take pride
In most of what they've done.
They've tamed the land and
Plumbed the sea. They've
Taught themselves to fly,
Sometimes beyond the
Atmosphere. They've learned,
So now they understand their
Place apart from what they
Label nature. They are feeling
Glum. It seems that, through
Their willfulness, they've
Wrecked the earth. They've
Poisoned it, and filled the air
With gases that are causing
It to warm. Their former pride
Has turned to shame. They look
At charts and measure glaciers,
Crying, “See what we have
Done,” and tell themselves
They'll change their ways.
“We made this mess. We'll
Clean it,” They can do so.
They have agency, but agency's
In fact, a joke. These humans
Are not separate. They're of
The earth, at one with it.
The planet warms, and does
Through them, but not
From poorly chosen acts.
It would have, anyway.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 51 times
Written on 2015-11-07 at 14:46

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