Tag Archives: fossil fuels

Day 30 — carbon footprints + footprints in clay

Always relieved when this month is over (I am pretty tired, pun intended, see below. It’s been hectic with extra commitments, several deadlines, & added responsibilities). That said, I’ve got a good swag of poems from the past 30 days (not all of them uploaded here). & I’m pleased with many of them. I really want to see if I can assemble a chapbook’s worth (at least) as writing about this topic feels like the most important thing to be talking about. I still have many poems titled, semi drafted, half-researched, a line or two of, the basic idea for, etc … & will continue to work on developing them & refining the ones I’ve got. 

Too often, I feel I’ve been bogged down in doom & gloom about the issue (which is partly what the inactivists want) so reading more optimistic books this year has been helpful.

This final one has been in my head a while (I always try & leave one I’ve thought about a lot till last so it’s not as exhausting) … this one was dictated as I drove to work this morning & I kinda like how it is in this rough state though it might get tweaked in future versions.

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prints & treads 

okay petrochemical fossil fuel industry : i’m happy to talk about my : personal carbon footprint. i’m happy to : recycle : eat no meat : drive less : take less/no overseas flights : plant more trees : & so on : but if you seriously think : the world is gonna be changed : by a few : well-meaning : people advocating : personal responsibility : while you roar round : the world : continuing to extract in ever desperate ventures : in ever destructive ways : & continue : operating : scot-free : continue : the same thing you’ve been doing : for the past hundred years : then you are deluded

yes : i’ll keep working on my personal footprint : because i know it’s the right thing : for me to do : (for me : others can make up their own minds) : but i’m gonna : keep talking to them about it : keep engaging : keep asking questions : but likewise i’m gonna nag away at : my politicians more : email policy makers : lobby shareholders : to divest : attend protests : & whatever else : feels necessary

but mostly : attacking you : you goddamm greedy heartless sons of bitches : to keep : calling you out : about hypocritically : trying to foist : guilt : & responsibility : back on us : the consumers of your pollution : when you cynically : shut down better : cheaper : cleaner alternatives : so you can : continue your : obscene exploitation : & challenging you : about your tread marks : at the cavalcade of tread marks : you cause : because otherwise : the thousands & thousands & thousands & thousands of treads : tracks : marks : & maulings : caused by : the tyres : powering your tiring old : business model : will obliterate : my tiny footprints : in a heart beat

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Day 30 — TIL i learnt about the first early human tracks discovered in North Africa

85 footprints

100,000 years ago
Late Pleistocene
last Ice Age

rounded heels
short toe marks
arched indentations

five adults & children 
walked a rocky shoreline 
Homo sapiens : modern humans

gathering food from the sea?
just passing through? 
fleeing trouble?

unlike me — their 
sea level rise still 
generations away

Day 25 — declaration & current live conflicts

How many Anzac Day poems can I write during NaPoWriMo? The theme of “climate change” overlayed on “Anzac Day” is challenging. I like the poem. It’s a first draft. My brain is pretty much fudge. 

And the Poetic Factoid poem that was gonna be wow-kapow! short & simple … has ballooned out of control & may now be the beginning of a suite of 28 poems. Though not tonight. 

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declaration

By continuing to megalomaniacally pursue 
corporate profit over planetary health 
fossil fuel companies have declared 
(& are continuing to declare)                    ! War !
with every new extreme extractive 
project they announce using
ever riskier technologies

They are declaring  ! War ! on the arctic 
on the Amazon, on Antartica too before long 
! War ! on far off out-of-the-way places
on our own backyards

! War ! on the oceans (in countless ways)
on freshwater supplies everywhere
rivers, groundwater, aquifers 
on our drinking water
on the atmosphere

! War ! 
on nature
on trees, forests, wetlands
on every living creature

on us

they have declared  !! WAR !! 

only we — refuse to admit — they have 

*****

Day 25 — TIL about the 28 LIVE conflicts in the world right now
(20 odd more than I presumed)

too many conflicts 

1. The Argument 
as we solemnly remember our participation 
in wars dating back 114 years plus
it’s probably productive to pause a moment
& realise there are currently 
28 live conflicts around the world
                                                         right now

some you will have heard of 
israel’s annexing of palestine perhaps
russia’s invasion of ukraine
syria, afghanistan, myanmar, iraq
et cetera et cetera et cetera 

my initial concept for this poem
was to write haiku length
potted histories of 5 or 6 
current conflicts in the world — this before
realising there were so so many

i mean i thought i was relatively 
up to date with what’s going on. 
i wasn’t. i would’ve score half. on a test.
maybe. but this poem is already too long
so instead all i’m going to do
is list all 28 conflicts. as they appear.
on the global conflict tracker website
& request you to take the time
to read each one. perhaps even
visit the site to learn more.  

(& keep your eyes out, for my
potted history suite, forthcoming)

2.
i. Americas
Criminal Violence in Mexico
Instability in the Northern Triangle
Instability in Haiti
Venezuela Crisis

ii. Asia
Instability in Afghanistan
Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea
North Korea Crisis
Instability in Pakistan
Conflict Between India and Pakistan
Confrontation Over Taiwan
Civil War in Myanmar

iii. Europe and Eurasia
War in Ukraine
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

iv. Middle East and North Africa
Conflict in Syria
Instability in Iraq
Instability in Lebanon
Conflict Between Turkey and Armed Kurdish Groups
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Civil Conflict in Libya
War in Yemen
Civil War in Sudan
Violent Extremism in the Sahel
Confrontation With Iran

v. Sub-Saharan Africa
Conflict in the Central African Republic
Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Instability in South Sudan
Conflict With Al-Shabaab in Somalia
Conflict in Ethiopia

Day 24 — a scientist speaks + gargoyles respond

Irony aplenty in today’s topic as the poems take a decided shift (I think they’re going to anyway) away from what’s been before. You’ll understand why at the end of this poem …

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Runaway Gargoyle

There is : general scientific agreement : that the most : likely manner : in which mankind : is influencing the global climate : is through carbon dioxide release : from the burning of fossil fuels : there are : some : potentially catastrophic events : that must be considered : rainfall might get heavier : in some regions : other places might turn to desert : some countries : would have their : agricultural output : reduced : or destroyed : man has a window : before the need : for hard decisions : regarding changes : in energy strategies : become critical : once the effects are measurable : they might not be : reversible

so spake : highly respected : senior scientist : James F. Black : waaay back in the 70’s : (words his : formatting mine)

the twist in the tail : the kick in the pants : the punch in the gut : the knife in the heart : the stab in the back : the sell the whole damn world down the river just for greed’s & profits’ sake :

is that Black : was a lead scientist : for fossil fuel giant Exxon : but rather than : heeding its own scientists’ warnings : it : & every petrochemical company since : has waged the most aggressive : PR deny & deflect campaign : snow job : contesting the scientific evidence : using all their : (not inconsiderable) : wealth & power : to lobby : purchase politicians : stymy global protocols : & to block : absolutely anything : & everything : even to the point : of purchasing : green competitors & technologies : only to shut them down : repressing : every : single : thing : (i repeat trying not to get hysterical) : aimed at curbing : their carbon polluting : cash cow : which is slowly : (& more & more so : swiftly) : killing : our : only : home

*****

Day 24 — TIL about the original gargoyles

irony overload

knowing : what i know now : that fact that : exxonmobile’s original company : vacuum oil : used a gargoyle : as its logo : portrays : next : level : irony

given people : once believed : gargoyles protect : the buildings : they guard  — not pillage them : that they could : ward off evil spirits — not rape the planet & poison the air

some christian legends : state : gargoyles are : monsters : that attack people

& aside from keeping water : off of buildings : on churches : they supposedly : remind sinners : of the terror of evil : gargoyles : were meant to : shake you : quake you : make you : fear : hell & the devil

all of which : seem eminently reasonable : emotions to feel : about the richest : most immoral : entities : the world : has ever known

Day 16 — missing fish + a trilogy of fish fun facts

There’s lots of research concerning the devastation caused by BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon 3 month long oil leak around the Gulf of Mexico. This poem, explores one of the least reported/appreciated consequences. One which didn’t make the news cycle because the effects weren’t felt for three, four, five years — but the experts, the fishermen of the gulf knew what was happening. [3 longish verses aren’t being published.]

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missing fish

missing fish don’t make 
the news ; there’s no dramatic footage

no bodies wash onto beaches
just thousands of bubbles of nothing

following BP’s deepwater disaster
fish embryos didn’t grow

…

missing fish don’t make 
the news … but they should

*****

Day 16 – TIL a lot of fish related fun facts. (Ironically, at this point last year I wrote my flamingo triptych which was one of the highlight poems of last season. Today I find myself with lots & lots of fish facts, so I decided to replicate the idea.)

fish triptych

i. 
something odd (& gross) is happening 
in the waters of Britain
— a third of all male fish are changing 
sex due to human sewage pollution

ii. 
Atlantic hagfish produce enough slime 
in a minute to fill a bucket — no, no
i don’t care about the size of the bucket
that’s all the information i need, cheers

iii.
fish “speak” using a variety 
of low-pitched sounds 

they grunt : moan : & boom ; hiss : 
& whistle ; croak : creak : shriek : & wail

they rattle bones : gnash teeth
noisemake by jiggling muscles : 

against : their swim bladder
— ahhh : kindred spirits : who knew?

Day 10 – NIMBY + election contributions

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Four of the past five nights I’ve fallen asleep, sitting upright in my computer chair. I’m feeling totally run down. Writing the poems is wonderful as always. But draining when combined with actually trying to live a life also. So even though I’m not sure what this topic is going to be, I do know. It has to be short. I can’t endure a long session today. I’m working on poems about Sacrifice Zones & NIMBY politics (Not In My Back Yard). So this little lightly ironic poem was pretty easy to write. Just what I needed.

The Poetic Factoid was found on the same page as other research & made my day simpler. 

*****

fracking NIMBYism

no one likes fracking near them
no, not even Exxon King CEO 
& briefly US Secretary of State 
under Donald. J. Drumpf
   — Rex Tillerson — 
who once joined a lawsuit 
opposing fracking near 
his $5 million Texas home
worried it would lower property values

Rex drops his own microphone

*****

Day 10 – TIL about election contributions

Republican Rex

Rex has given a total of $468,970 in contributions to Republican candidates & committees between 2000 to 2016

according to 
Federal Election Commission records
he contributed to the campaigns of

George W. Bush
Mitt Romney
Mitch McConnell
Jeb Bush

ironically (or not) he never donated 
to Donald J Drumpf

Day 26 – 10 billion dollar fossils

Saw an article which was published yesterday with the headline: Australian fossil fuel subsidies hit $10.3 billion in 2020-21. This number seems shocking, unless you know anything at all about anything. Given how tired I am from getting all the past 9 days poems up, I thought it’s low hanging fruit, but I’m gonna pick it anyway. (Some poet days are harder than others.)

NB still had issues uploading photo so it’s not completely solved: had to restart computer three times before it “took”.

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10 billion dollar fossils 

Scummo & his LNP dinosaurs
are increasing fossil fuel subsides
as they’re being phased out worldwide

every minute of last year $19,686 
was given to coal oil & gas companies 
& major users of fossil fuels

they like to pretend 
they’re important players
giving back to the economy

instead of the socialist teat 
sucking velociraptors they are

— give em an indue card 
& be done with em