What strange creature is mankind
When on Earth himself did find
This rich planet to enjoy
With trees and seas and ores galore
Enough to last many years
Not meant to bring creatures tears
Mass destruction where they tread
Evoking others deepest dread
There's abundance everywhere
Yet some take more than their share
Profit is first, then their heirs
Who rape and pillage without care
Evidence for all to see
Climate change, the rise in seas
Yet poverty is still world wide
Greedy rich are not on our side
Thinking not of the morrow
Of millions grief and sorrow
As this world before our eyes
Slowly, sadly, painfully dies
Image 1 found at https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/147633694014528815/
Image 2 found at https://www.climategate.nl/2016/03/kwetsbare-aarde-iii/
More scary after the new warning on climate change... irreversible, I fear.
ReplyDeleteOh, that last line is poignant indeed. Your poem moves us from abundance through indulgence and greed to the very end.
ReplyDeleteDistressing but so true, well said.
ReplyDelete"As this world before our eyes / Slowly, sadly, painfully dies"...We are so unfortunate to see this happening in our lifetime. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteTo encounter this slow death is so painful. You capture the human greed and its resulting devastation aptly in your words.
ReplyDelete-HA
Even with abundance we humans seem to mess things up royally, don't we?
ReplyDeleteNot all of humanity, is this way, Robin. We must hope that's it possible to amend our ways and be better stewards of the wealth, this planet has given us. Until then, there is little hope for life, on this world.
ReplyDeleteand so it is, we walk wounded, and wounding -
ReplyDeleteand the losses will always be far greater than the sum of the profits and winnings, but who does care when profits are the gods at the shrines upon which too many pray/prey.
powerful words Robin.
All too true Robin. I fear we have destroyed our home and the abundance that was here
ReplyDeleteYour closing lines sum it up, sadly, and the photos reinforce your words. We were given so much bounty. We have been poor stewards. I see now the truth in the words, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. Greed is a sickness that is laying waste to earth.
ReplyDeleteEarth abundance is no longer eternal, it's not even of the century ... Increasingly, enough becomes the question of how much depletion humanity will endure before taking real actions for change.
ReplyDeleteBreaks my heart, and your words drive it home.
ReplyDelete