The Drought

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Drought

 

Lakes Powell and Mead are running dry

The Colorado is endangered

We know the simple reasons why

The strange is getting stranger

 

A victim of global climate change

A winter dry as bones

The ecosystem rearranged

The riverbeds of stone

 

Seven states are wondering

Just when their share runs out

The truth will leave a lasting sting

The warming’s not in doubt

 

Desalination is the only way

The west will survive the drought

Our world has gone so far astray

In time we’ll figure out

 

We had a chance to stem the tide

But now it’s far too late

We’re in it for a rocky ride

Hard times will be our fate

 

Some may wish to ride it out

The chips fall where they may

But one more year of stifling drought

And all will feel the pain  

World on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

World on Fire

 

The world’s on fire because of us

Because of what we’ve done

In our leaders we’ve lost trust

The whole planet’s on the run

 

Think of what we’ve handed down

From the generations past

Our way of life has been unwound

The damage done is vast

 

We have left a world on fire

Catastrophes and drought

A world balanced on a tight wire

Without a clear way out

 

We wish we had it all again

I swear we’d do things differently

These are the doings of lesser men

The ones who worshiped greed

 

They didn’t care what harm they did

They plotted and they planned

They answered to the highest bid

They built their castles grand

 

Soon they’ll answer for their lapse

Their callousness and greed

They’ll hear the bells toll and the taps

They’ll find a place of need

 

 

Fire Wind and Rain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Fire Wind and Rain

 

The rain in Spain no longer falls

The south of France is burning

They’re building up their firewalls

The climate tide is turning

 

Waves of heat sweep overland

The winds are blowing strong

Again we’re forced to make a stand

But the nightmare will go on

 

We need to change our thinking

The places where we build

Our best laid plans are sinking

We are losing strength of will

 

What happens there will happen here

In face it’s happening today

As danger and destruction nears

We’ll be forced to move away

 

The ravages of mother earth

Are moving to the fore

We’ll have to measure what it’s worth

An end to every war

 

For we have a common enemy

We’ll need all of our resources

We’ll reassess our common needs

And unify our forces

 

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

 

 

The Democratic Platform

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Democratic Platform

 

In 2026 and two years beyond

What will the Democrats run on?

What will they take to the campaign stump?

 

First and above all else: Erase Trump

From the Golden Ballroom to the southern wall

His name and his deeds, erase them all

 

Next ban the dirty gerrymander

That mortal threat to the democratic way

Let voters deal with the lies and slanders

Let the people have their say

 

In a republic the filibuster has no place

A simple majority should have its way

An end to this senatorial disgrace

 

Let’s finally end these wars of choice

On the myth that might is right

Let the people of all nations rejoice

An end to the infinite fight

 

Then let’s get the cost of living down

We can’t take it another day more

We’d like an occasional night on the town

And a reasonable bill at the store

 

Let all who are able find work today

There’s a job for one and all

Full employment is the only way

To avoid the next economic fall

 

Let’s deliver healthcare for everyone

We tried once but it just didn’t take

Let’s try it again until it’s done

It is time for decency’s sake

 

Then let’s mobilize for universal housing

In a nation as wealthy as ours

 

Let’s end the era of doubting

We can make polutionless cars

 

Let’s refund science for the warming

Let’s prepare the best that we can

We’ve ignored all of the warnings

Let us finally take our best stand

 

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

 

 

Not Warming

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Not Warming

 

The climate isn’t warming

The heat in Tulsa isn’t real

And the toxic sky isn’t harming

Or affecting how we feel

 

The snowpack isn’t down

The floods aren’t getting worse

It isn’t drying out the ground

It’s not the global warming curse

 

The price of oil isn’t higher

We aren’t burning more each day

And the kids aren’t getting tired

Of nearly everything we say

 

We’re not fighting a needless war

In a place so far from here

We’re not tearing up the shore

And the end ain’t drawing near

 

We aren’t losing jobs to robots

We aren’t making people poor

And we aren’t twisted into knots

Trying to squeeze a little more

 

We aren’t living in a nightmare

We are living in a dream

And no one we know is scared

That’s just the way it seems

 

 

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