Idiot Winds (El Nino)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Idiot Winds

 

El Nino is coming

And it’s packing a heavy punch

The strongest it has ever been

Makes the others look like runts

 

With the warming at its back

The effects will be dramatic

It will turn our lights to black

All the warnings are emphatic

 

Some will say it is the wrath

But climate change is here

We have chosen this tragic path

The implications are too clear

 

The storms will be colossal

Across continents they will swarm

Some may pray to the apostles

But the climate is too warm

 

Droughts will lead to floods

Rivers raging in the air

Rolling rivers made of mud

We’ll be caught inside the lair

 

Some say nothing can be done

At this stage they may be right

We’ll take refuge from the sun

We’ll take comfort in the night

 

 

Oh Canada (Canadian Wildfires)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Canadian Wildfires

 

Much of Canada is on fire

From the Territories to Newfoundland

From Vancouver to Ontario

The threat could rise much higher

 

Remember back in ‘23

When the smoke transformed New York

From a city geared to please

To a landscape gray and orange

 

Where there’s smoke there’s fire

Or so it has been said

But there are winds that never tire

That take the smoke where it is led

 

Minnesota and Wisconsin

Parts of Michigan as well

They’re breathing in the toxins

Like they’re under a poison spell

 

They days ahead are treacherous

For anybody in the path

These wildfires can be lecherous

For the damage do the math

 

So you don’t believe in the Warming?

It’s long past your wake-up time

You’ve received your final warning

In Canada they’re not blind

 

And they dig for dirty oil

In the lands that were pristine

They contaminate the soil

For a wealth that isn’t clean

 

Heat Wave over Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Heat Wave over Europe

 

They are wearing white in Italy

They are seeking relief in France

They are finding refuge in the sea

It’s the end of a tragic romance

 

The warming hits them harder

Than most of the deniers

They helped write the warming charter

As they foresaw a world on fire

 

They are suffering in Berlin

As thunder shakes the ground

The zealots are blaming sin

As their greens are turning brown

 

The Germans see the future

The French and Spanish too

It is a vision we have nurtured

By pretending it is not true

 

The future comes a calling

In a wave of stifling heat

All the records will be falling

As we surrender in defeat

 

We have a common enemy

Yet we fight against ourselves

The monster storms, the rising seas

We have created our own hell

 

 

Smog in LA

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Smog in LA

 

We remember back in the day

Smog so thick you couldn’t breathe

A stifling layer of summer haze

From the great basin to the sea

 

California fought it back

It took years to clear the air

We led the nation on attack

We did far more than our share

 

Now we’ve lost what we had gained

The nation didn’t have our back

All our efforts were in vain

When the train fell off the tracks

 

Climate change is not a joke

The warming lingers into night

We’ve got to fix what we have broke

It’s a crushing fact of life

 

Does anybody really care

That what we’re leaving to our kids

Poisoned water, toxic air

We may have lost our final bid

 

 

Datong Mining Disaster

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Datong Mining Disaster

 

Ninety dead on the evening news

The number may be growing

Disasters come in threes and twos

Our vulnerability showing

 

Coal kills when you dig it out

It kills when you burn it down

No one should have any doubt

It should be left beneath the ground

 

Datong is just the latest

In a series of coal explosions

Not the worst and not the greatest

In a state of mass erosion

 

In this modern day and age

No human should go under

It’s not worth a decent wage

Why we still do it is a wonder

 

The day has come to let it go

The way of video rental stores

Let’s have no more of burning coal

Let’s close that rusted door

 

Let’s find our way to sunlight

And other renewable forms

That free us from our deadly plight

And moderate our giant storms

 

 

Elements

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Elements

 

The wind, the rain, the snow

The elements of the earth

That which flourishes and grows

The dying and rebirth

 

The heat of summer sun

It rises to a pitch

For cover creatures run

The changes are so rich

 

A chain of thunderstorms

Twisters, grim tornadoes

When cold invades the warm

The four winds rise and blow

 

A flood on city streets

A storm across the plains

We surrender in defeat

A torrential wall of rain

 

Mother nature is our friend

And our worst adversary

We work to make amends

That burden we must carry

 

Extinction

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Extinction

 

The black rhino is no more

The bandicoot and wallaby

It seems humanity is at war

With everything that breathes

 

Extinction in the Gaza Strip

Extinction in Ukraine

Stack the bombs and let em rip

Our race has gone insane

 

Farewell to the shoreline

Farewell to clear blue skies

Is everybody feeling fine?

Welcome to the land of lies!

 

Wars and rumors of

Death and mass destruction

Hatred has displaced our love

A chain of flame eruptions

 

We are now a warlike nation

Our every move destroys

We spread annihilation

With a certain sense of joy

 

When it comes to extinction events

Humanity is not immune

Our time on earth is almost spent

In fact it’s past high noon

 

 

LA Heat Wave

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

LA Heat Wave

 

With so much trouble in the world

We forget about the warming

With all these missiles being hurled

We didn’t hear the warning

 

Oh we recall when it was the rage

The sky is falling, falling

We’ve entered the disaster age

We can hear the siren calling

 

Now the heat is coming back again

There is nothing we can do

Hide away and count to ten

Please tell me when it’s through

 

But there’s no brushing this aside

The warming takes its toll

It’s going to be a bumpy ride

For the planet as a whole

 

Forget about these brutal wars

We’re all in this together

This is a glimpse of what’s in store

This ain’t no change in weather

 

 

The Great Northwest Flood

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Great Northwest Flood

 

A torrent from the heavens

Tears through the Great Northwest

From Mount Olympus down to Pullman

The dams and rivers crest

 

From the Skagit to the Skokomish

All the rivers overrun

The people have one Christmas wish

That this nightmare is done

 

For now they are in crisis mode

They’re scrambling for their lives

They’ve lived enough to know the code

They know how to survive

 

But this one hit them stronger

Than most every storm before

Each time it takes them longer

To recover and restore

 

We all know it is the warming

That brings this kind of rain

The hurricanes and storming

Our structures under strain

 

We can’t go on pretending

The warming is not here

Deflecting and defending

There is no cause for fear

 

So do whatever you can do

To get ready for the next one

For we know this much is true:

It gets worse before it’s done

 

 

Shame

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Shame

 

As nations gather in Brazil

In concern for global warming

Say what you can and what you will

It’s getting late for warnings

 

Shame on those who are not here

Shame on the deniers

Like a ship without a mate to steer

Or a flame inside a fire

 

The United States is not alone

But lonely in its absence

In time all nations must atone

For now they stand in silence

 

China stands with Mexico

Australia with Japan

The absentees begin to grow

To the detriment of man

 

It seems we are not capable

Of seeing past tomorrow

We’re content with being stable

While we wallow in our sorrows

 

But time is not our friend

When the planet is in danger

We’re barreling towards the end

In a world that’s growing stranger

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 

While America proclaims a hoax

China moves ahead

Making Xi a little more woke

And lessening the dread

Of a climate change denier

Living in the White House

A dirty coal supplier

A deal with Doctor Faust

 

Reducing carbon emissions

In the interest of humankind

Reduces our suspicions

Of what China has in mind

For all our best decisions

Depend on what we find

In the hope of nuclear fission

And the global warming bind

 

As America steps back

The Chinese take the lead

Where science is under attack

All of Europe feels the need

There’s something that we lack

When the whole world plants a seed

While we run off the tracks

In record numbing speed

 

 

Foot of the Mountains

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Foot of the Mountains

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where the river once was saved

Keep your silence and count ten

With one foot in the grave

 

I was running from nowhere

I was biding my own good time

I was holding my thoughts there

I was thinking thoughts in rhyme

 

There were clouds in a clear sky

I was riding on the waves

When a murder of crows came flying by

They were dealing in human slaves

 

Then a crash of floodwaters came

Like a booming river from hell

It was captured in the picture frame

I heard a ringing of the bells

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where once a preacher was slain

We drank from the mystic fountain

And the whole world went insane

 

Will we awaken before the end

Before it all goes out to sea

We can be certain it depends

On how long we let it be

 

Data Farms

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 

Data Farms (AI)

 

They take more than they return

With their massive data thirst

The raw energy that it burns

Could hardly get much worse

 

Its intelligence would tell you

It’s the worst thing we could do

These greedy companies sell you

A promise that is not true

 

The consumption of so much force

Without any objective use

Is plotting out a course

That will shake foundations loose

 

Don’t you see where this is going?

This obsession with AI

Its consumption ever growing

Will soon absorb the sky

 

In the end they’ll all agree

That these monolith machines

Serve no fundamental need

To keep this planet clean

 

For they do not need clean air

Dirty water keeps them cool

Why would they even care?

They will play us all for fools

 

Monsoon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Monsoon

 

Floods have taken hundreds of lives

In the Kashmir region of Pakistan

In a place that tests your will to survive

A harsh and unforgiving land

 

The floods trigger the landslides

A torrent of flowing mud

A river of death far and wide

A consequence of the flood

 

The monsoons visit every year

The people take it in stride

Bury the dead and shed their tears

Rebuild and stand with pride

 

Each year the rain grows stronger

Each year they bury more

The monsoon season is longer

The flashflood waters roar

 

This too is global climate change

And yet we hear no warning

It seems the earth is now estranged

In the years of the great warming