Another World

It is mid-July 2023. Temperatures are rising to record highs all across the globe; the hottest day ever recorded, the hottest year since records were first kept, fifteen plus days in a row over 110* in Phoenix, AZ, the ocean water in Miami reaching hot tub temperatures, all of Europe once again baking under the summer sun. Add to this scenario the forest fires with their drifting smoke, torrential rains leading to massive floods, tornadoes touching down in places where they are seldom seen, rising sea levels due to melting glaciers. I see it all covered daily on the news. What I don’t see is any nation, state, politician, or corporation doing anything about it. Watch-out folks! Our planet is fast becoming Another World.

I.

There are flames in the dark sky,

Night no longer turns to day.

A panoramic glaze hangs low,

Even the colors decay.

Trapped in a world of our own unmaking,

We are living it, dying slowly.

Everything we once took for granted,

Shrinking!

Listen as our planet bakes

Hot! Has a sound of its own,

A searing sound that hunts you down,

And mind and body slowly drown.

II.

Oh, for a crystal clear pool of cool

Water to wet my lying lips.

A cool breeze upon my cheek

Is all I seek for another day;

A day without rough shadows,

A day without dark sorrows.

III.

Are you listening?

Is anyone listening?

We know what is coming!

Coming?

It’s already here;

Like hot coals on a fire burning

Slowly,

A pall of smoky fear

Hangs hard on all we hold dear.