Playing with a word I learnt last year and thought might make a good poem title (& hopefully poem).
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solastalgia
The homesickness you have when you are still at home.
word & definition coined by Glenn Albrecht Australian philosopher & Professor of Sustainability
that peculiar form of distress that envelopes us in a misty kind of claustrophobic cling wrap when we see our homelands both lived & idealised lands which bring peace simply by being give us tranquility remind us to breath to hope to sit quietly & still & just
when we feel those lands callously destroyed paddocks ploughed under for another subdivision megahardware store or discount supermarket or cut open for coal or fracked set on fire covered in oil torn up by trucks
How useful are doing the little things when the biggest culprits are allowed to get away with not just doing nothing, but actually increasing emissions?
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inconveniences
sometimes i’m overwhelmed by the futility of me, you, anyone, but in my case — me
not eating meat not using plastic drink bottles not washing my car every day (not washing me every day) not using the AC till it’s truly necessary recycling plastic bags & trying not to even buy them in the first place not sucking stuff through straws
drinking tap water switching lightbulbs unplugging gadgets buying locally, op shopping & avoiding fast fashion using cruise control for better fuel efficiency keeping tyres properly pumped & so on & tediously on
all these are but minor blips — mere inconveniences when compared to what really should be getting changed
the same Prime Smirker who once gloated about how good coal is on the floor of the Australian parliament is today raving about the multitude of climate saving virtues (to hear him spout it) of natural gas
the same guy who appointed a couple of natural gas wonks to his COVID-19 recovery taskforce which later (to no one’s surprise) revealed that the way out of our Covid-induced economic coma was … { da-dah } Nat. U. Ral. Gas. &. Lots of it.
this fracking clown is relentlessly smirking while the world burns
i only hope the pentecostal hell he so fervently believes in is real & he ends up sweating down there
Today would have been my Gran’s 97th birthday. I’ve used that as the impetus for this pome.
WARNING: it is quite long; probably the longest I’ve ever posted for NaPoWriMo (though my anti-Jazz rant was up there). If you choose to skip to the last stanza, I’ll quite understand, & you’ll still get the general gist hahaha.
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Gran’s lifetime: under a century
1. Introduction It infuriates me when people say oh we can’t change things too much think of our economy : et ceterablah!
2. Birth Year In 1924 : the year after : the invention of TV : the British Empire : is still gleefully : exploiting her colonies : Australia has been an actual country for only 23 years : the USA only has 48 states : Adolf Hitler is still in prison : the Winter Olympics begin : commercial radio is first broadcast : the first aerial circumnavigation of the world is completed : in only 175 days (today it takes a little over 2 days : 50 hours) surrealism is born : movies are still silent : & Hubble blows up the universe discovering : Andromeda is not a nebula : as long thought : but another galaxy : & that the Milky Way : itself is only one : of many
3. The Not Quite 100 Years Following in the succeeding : century the twenties roar : jazz begins torturing eardrums everywhere : before causing a great depression : nazis somehow convince an enlightened society to eat itself : the USSR rises & falls we fight a second World War : a Cold War : & a War on Terror we invent : drop : then are terrified by atomic bombs : stop drop & roll : you’ll still die : but you’ll feel like you tried : bikinis make babes into bombshells : boomers are born : with a bang & immediately begin : annoying everyone : teenagers are invented : along with rock n roll : the Holocaust continues to horrify us : but later genocides get less attention : as ours grow ever shorter
Gandhi marches for salt : Mao takes a long one : we promise two new states but only officially make one : leading to years of unrest : dozens of countries shake off : shackles : declare independence
we orbit the earth : & bounce on the moon pocket calculators : are briefly a big thing scientists genetically engineer organisms (bacteria then mice) : a child is born via : in vitro fertilisation ; the culture counters revolts against war : conservatism : oppression : patriarchy : sexuality
Pong is considered cutting edge : Commodore 64 wows the world with a massive 64K of memory : the first Macintosh then smashes that paltry amount by : doubling it : Gameboys : Rubik makes a cube
gramophones : give way : to record players : to cassette tapes : to compact discs : to mp3 : to online streaming from the cloud
computers shrink : from buildingesque then : room-sized : to being : our personal playthings : then laptops : mobile phones : smart phones : tablets : iWatches chips are implanted : in our bodies hidden : in COVID vaccinations*
mobiles shrink : from the size of bricks : to fitting into pockets & are on their way : back up to brick
multinational corporations : became the most important entities : on earth free trade agreements : bloom like mushrooms : from the dung of laissez faire economic policy : stock markets crash numerous times & are salvaged : poor people are demonised banks go bankrupt : & are bailed out : poor people are blamed : for being poor supertanker container ships : begin impersonating small cities & pumping out : the equivalent in emissions the assembly line : makes production massive : & turns men into machines archaea are classified as a new : separate : domain of life
we survive Y2K … easily
we transplant hearts : break the sound barrier : genetically modify crops : map the human genome : use X-rays see inside ourselves :
we invent: satellites : Concorde : Skylab (even though it falls on us) : the ISS : high-speed rail : container ships : & buildings really start scraping the sky
as well as: Velcro : Tupperware : Frisbees : The Slinky : modern Solar cells : the pill : AstroTurf : ultrasound : the CDC 6600 supercomputer : ATMs : MRIs : email : earlier than you think (’71) face lifts : stainless steel : silicone : polystyrene : PVC : polyethylene & nylon : & multiple other plastics : plus thousands of chemicals : for industrial & domestic use (though whether these last are good : or not : is debatable)
discover : black holes : quasars : parallel universes : mechanics who can repair your quantum while you wait : that everything began in a Big Bang : (probably) : DNA’s double-helix; the Cosmic microwave background radiation : penicillin
scientists develop vaccines for : polio : measles : influenza : diphtheria : pertussis (whooping cough) : tetanus : measles : mumps : rubella (German measles) : chickenpox : hepatitis A & B & eradicate smallpox in 1979
we survive : eruptions : quaking earth : strong winds of a multitude of kinds : droughts : plane crashes : bridge collapses : train derailments : nuclear reactor meltdowns : space shuttle explosions : a litany of oil & energy crises : the rise & fall of Berlin’s Wall : toxic gas leaks : oil tankers spilling their guts
we fight a lot of wars : a barrage of wars : police actions : emergencies : civil unrests : invasions : genocides : & miscellaneous conflicts of all ilks. protests : separatist movements : revolutions : dictatorships : martial laws imposed & revoked : coups d’état : military coups : run of the mill coups & attempted coups : takeovers : insurrections : assassinations : uprisings both popular & not : riots : troubles : tensions : & detentes : aerial bombardments : battles : bombs : suicide bombers : terrorist attacks : incidents : massacres : boycotts : blockades : systems actively designed to discriminate (some were even abolished : well one)
even the occasional peace treaty
*one of these things is not like the others
4. Commonplace Things We Take for Granted washing machines : clothes dryers : air-conditioners : exercise machines : refrigerators : freezers : electric stoves : vacuum cleaners : cars ; & a handful of magic devices allow us to experience knowledge : gossip : stupidity : & even extraordinary content from around the world — so much great literature : artwork : music : dance : & cinema it’s impossible to list even a fraction of it
5. Technologies Which Have Become Obsolete Since Gran Was Born 8mm : Super 8 : Hi-8 : analog slides (along with slide projectors & hand-held slide viewers) : overhead projectors : analog film : including photo developing : film splicing : disposable film cameras : Kodak itself for that matter : photo albums : flash cubes : photo booths : one hour photo saloons : & (almost) printed photographs : 8 tracks : cassettes : DAT : walkmen : diskmen : vinyl records (except for DJs) : MP3 players : minidiscs : boomboxes : VCRs (VHS & Beta) : floppy disks : Zip drives : CDs : DVDs : Blu-rays : LaserDiscs (oh that’s right : they were a thing : briefly) : telegrams : dial up modems : phone books : rotary phones : landlines (almost) : answering machines : phone booths : cathode ray tvs : pagers/beepers : dot matrix printers : fax machines : typewriters : encyclopaedias : card catalogs : punch cards : classified ads : street directories : road maps : alarm clocks : calculator watches : pin ball machines : space invaders : pac man :
6. Jobs Which Have Become Obsolete Since Gran Was Born Breaker Boy : Cigarette Girl : Clock Winder : Copy Boy : Dictaphone Operator : Elevator Operator : Film Projectionist : Ice Cutter : Knocker-Upper : Lamplighter : Lector : Leech Collector : Log Driver : Manual Part Loading : Milkman : Mimeograph Operator : Pinsetter : Rag & Bone Man : Rat Catcher : Sandman : Sawyer : Street Sweeper : Switchboard Operator : Telegraph Operator : Typesetter : Typing Pool : VCR Repairman : Video Store Clerk : indeed entire industries devoted to record stores & videocassette/DVD rentals : not to mention entire industries related to horse-drawn transportation : not mention no doubt many others: i’ve failed to mention
7. The Argument & if you haven’t read every single word of this poem i quite understand i was deliberately belabouring relabouring & overlabouring a point by listing the many many many many things we’ve changed in under a 100 years & many in much less than that
so don’t fucking tell me we can’t change now — & fast
Today after a lot of frustrating time wasted I think I have finally solved my inability to upload photos to my WordPressblog on a daily basis.
It’s possibly been because I’ve had too many programs &/or tabs open in the background, but my computer is reasonably powerful in the RAM department & can run video & sound editing programs with ease, so if that is the case it suggests the new version of WordPress is pretty clunky.
None-the-less, I think the problem has been solved & these poems that have been slowly accumulating since the last interregnum (April 16) can now be cleared & the rest of the month dealt with day by day as intended. Fingers crossed.
Today’s poem (ironically) is an offshoot of the one I was working on yesterday. This is more like the poem I had in my head when I began yesterday; even if it didn’t end up there.
desperation
the more i read about what we need to change if we are to change climate change’s worst potential outcomes the more desperate & depressed i become
to the point where i am glad i haven’t brought kids into the world we are daily terradeforming
but thankfully that madness passes to be replaced by the old ongoing sadness
A topic of key concern for the driest continent on earth.
drought
Drought has been the dominant historical cause of hunger, starvation, and consequent death.
Paddy Morrow, Body Count
i. earth in our new 2-4 degree* warmer nearly-now world droughts will range further be more intense be more frequent start sooner end later food supplies will be challenged crops will fail water will become a reason we wage war
ii. other the breeding seasons of pesky infectious diseases seeking to use us as habitat will lengthen because both bugs & bacteria breed faster in heat
wise indigenous people the world over value the earth more than we beasts in the civilised west — in their spiritual connections to nature ; beliefs that healthy people need healthy country ; & the practise of making decisions by considering the impacts choices have seven generations into the future
whereas short sighted CEOs pollies decision makers & spine less policy wonks look no further than their bottom line
Altering behaviour to avert climate change is about more than factories emitting CO2 & driving to work in SUVs.
airshows, et al
today my brigade volunteered at the local airshow (wednesday’s training: sobering instruction on the way to approach a burning aircraft) & while it was eye-opening having never attended an event like this the whole time i kept thinking how much fuel are these planes using doing essentially meaningless flybys & stunt work & dropping skydivers from the clouds like prophets — then, when they turn on the “bonus” effect of smoke oil to produce long chemtrails of covid-spreading 5G goodness drifting toxic dust disappearing with the wind all for the sole purpose of entertaining a few thousand fanatics & bored toddlers repeat this all over with F1s & bike races & rally cars & motocross & supercars & all of it, all this relentless flaming of fossil fuel … just, for entertainment
i know the correct way to approach a burning plane but not, sadly, a burning planet
gareth roi poet boi 