I’ve been considering this idea for the final poem of the month almost since the first day (I’d love to say Day 1, but it wasn’t, so, truth). I’ve had nothing more than the title (phoenix, you see how well that turned out) & the basic vibe of the thing. I also knew I want it to be a bit less literal/sledgehammery than some of stat/fact based pomes have been (usually stat based pomes are that way because I haven’t had enough time to find a way to “hide the facts”/tell the story in a poetical way.)
That said, I knew I wanted it to be a positive hopeful type message after a month of almost unrelenting desperation. Sadly I could not muster that outcome. Poems often take on lives of their own once you give them the initial kickstart & this little brumby definitely roared off towards a far different horizon than the one intended. Almost everything about this was unexpected …
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the second, & worst, species of phoenix
so the myth goes there are three species of Phoenix two of them do not really concern us
Phoinix immortalis resides in the temple of every sun predominately goldenfire shines with a star’s brightness shatters darkness cos it can & when she dies the universe folds completely in upon itself & is re-banged
Phoinix communis equal parts red & gold rosecoloured wing feathers tufts of iridescence spot fires of sunshine lives 500 years & dies ablazing yet born from the same ashes just days later
but Phoinix conflagrare is to be feared — feathers so red they are as living flame neck a gleam of gold golden crest crowns its head lavaflow with each movement lives 10,000 years — but beware when he burns, he burns the world consumes it almost entirely
the earth recovers, for that is her way but we humans, will no longer be around to witness to meddle nor to play god
I’ve saved writing this one till almost last because I know it’s going to be somewhat controversial or confrontational for many people. As mentioned in my pome plague species from last’s year’s pandemic suite, humans & the beasts we own as pets/property or product are somewhere/between 96-98% of the entire biomass of the planet.
Even more unsustainable than the 8 billion humans on Starship Earth are the 1 billion cows, 1 billion sheep, 26 billion chickens, 700 million goats, 680 million pigs that exist at any one time, because, for example, while there’s only about 26 billion chickens alive at any one time, the world eats about 50 billion … every year.
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meat & milk
setting aside the many moral & ethical considerations
as the world gets richer it eats more meat & drinks more milk
without seemingly understanding rearing cattle
~ puts more heat-trapping gas into the air than every car truck train boat & plane
~ causes a tenth of CO2 derived from human-related activities
~ two-thirds of human-related nitrous oxide (300x the Global Warming Potential of CO2)
~ a third of all human-induced methane (23x as warming as CO2)
~ two-thirds of ammonia a key factor in acid rain
~ uses a third of the earth’s entire land surface a third of the global arable land to produce feed
~ about a fifth of all pastures are degraded through overgrazing, compaction, erosion
~ forests are cleared to create new pastures & so is a major driver of deforestation
~ threatens our scarce water resources through pollution from animal wastes antibiotics
hormones chemicals from tanneries fertilizers & the pesticides that spray crops
we may think we’re raising them to feed our appetite ~ but ultimately
our hunger might kill us all as well
NB Humans kill 50 billion chickens, 3 billion ducks, 1.47 billion pigs, 545 million sheep, 444 million goats and 300 million cattle every year. All in all, 72 billion land animals & over 1.2 trillion aquatic animals are killed for food around the world every year. We drink around 600 million tonnes of milk every year. & these numbers continue to rise…
A quick one cos it’s been a long day & I’m very tired.
NB I didn’t get to post it last night because when I found myself waking up from being asleep in my computer chair I realised I’d run out of puff & so took myself off to bed.
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there’s a word for this, but i can’t remember what
first we warm the earth so much we melt the arctic & the permafrost then we start drilling right there yep, in the arctic & the permafrost
By this late stage of the month, I had hoped to move on to a few more “positive” poems. Some Good News Poems (of which there are, unquestionably, some). But I keep getting drawn back to things I want to share with people who possibly don’t know, some of the crazy shit that’s going on.
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techno fixes: otherwise known as plans B, C, G, Q & Z
fertilizing oceans with iron : supposedly : to get sea plants : photosynthesising phytoplankton : thus growing faster : thus pulling CO2 : out : of the air : trouble is : small scale tests of this : have been tried : to no known benefit
covering deserts : with vast : white sheets : a la Christo : thereby reflecting sunlight : back to space : you know : what the ice caps : used to do : before we : melted them : like giant : dripping down our hands : ice-creams
building some form of : superdooper : whizz bang : machine : that can suck carbon : clean out the sky : there’s been limited success : trialling these : odorous particle eaters : just in no way : no way nearly no way : in enough quantities of scale : to be of any benefit : can you guess : what powers them
exchanging : very cold : deep ocean water : for much warmer : surface water : the top 200 metres : only exchanges : with the deep : every : 10,000 years or so : therefore : by artificially encouraging them to swap : the oceans : can be a heat sink : while we : find a permanent solution : haha you know i’m kidding : we’ll do nothing proactive : always ever only : reactive
some of the : sun-dimming : options which have been suggested : & remember : this is not comedy i’m writing here
space mirrors : that’s right : big mirrors in space to bounce : the sun’s rays away : thus potentially : running the risk : of inadvertently flashing it : into a passing alien hyperdrive’s eyes : thereby really pissing : our FTL neighbours off
cloud brightening : spraying seawater skywards : from specially coopted : fleets of boats : or tall towers on shore : supposedly to create more cloud cover : or to make the clouds we have : more reflective : longer lasting : or something
the most popular option : revolves round : spraying sulphate aerosols : high into our stratosphere : via retrofitted planes : or cannons : or even : & this is genuine : a really long hose suspended by helium balloons : acting like : an artificial volcano : spewing forth : ash & debris : which floats around : reflecting sunlight : up up & away
even a small scale : “nothing too big” : local : nuclear war : between Pakistan & India perhaps : could work : would be easy : to orchestrate : the results : should probably bring : a mini ice age : though who knows : what other : pesky side-effects besides
or, you know, we could : properly fund renewables R&D : eat less meat : plant some trees : even : & here’s a thought : leaping out of left field : actually : curb : fossil : fuel : emissions
As always, Anzac Day crops up as a potential topic during NaPoWriMo. I’ve written before how this day is a conflicted one for me (see previous Anzac Day poems for more, particularly last year’s addition to the oeuvre). And as with two days ago (Bill Shakey Day) having the theme of “climate change” superimposed over “Anzac Day” initially flummoxed me. Until this idea presented itself, which in my opinion, solved the conundrum perfectly.
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the actual war to end all wars
sure we’ve trounced off to battle like it’s some sort of boy’s day out- church picnic-gungho adventure-what!
just because the mother country demanded it when her monarch couldn’t solve a tiff with two of his cousins
yes we’ve fought proper wars against fascists & communists & nazis & people who believe different silly things to our silly things
& tragically, traditional custodians of our own nation — enemies real but more often fabricated to serve the current political narrative
wars which we endlessly celebrate in often mawkish, sometimes trite, occasionally deeply moving ways
but our biggest battle is all around us yet most cannot see the war being waged funded every day by billions of dollars
from multinational companies who believe their right to profit outweighs a home habitable by all — humans & animals alike
Inspired by a line of Warren Buffet’s when he was pretending to be the billionaire Green Messiah who would save us all.
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The Ark
let’s assume : just for a moment : that anthropomorphic climate change : is absolutely : fair dinkum : ’od’sblood : a serious thing : something : worth worrying about : & after all : the odds are looking : pretty good : or bad : depending on : your linguistic bent : that they are :: surely : if we’re going : to make a mistake : let’s err : on the side of caution : on the side : of the planet : of the only planet we have : y’know : just to be safe
to use a metaphor : that doesn’t entirely : hold water : but might be appealing : to more conservative minded : perusers of poetry : if you have : any common sense : you have to build : the ark : before : the rains come : no good : still hammering : it all together : even as : the flood waters : lap your thighs
but truthfully : we need : more than a single Ark : remember Noah’s : was built : not to hold : everyone : on earth : only the privileged : few
hmmmm : if only : there was something : big enough : that could : sustain : us : all
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
gareth roi poet boi 