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
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
Been wanting to write this poem (or a version of it) ever since hearing the term. Thankfully, once I started, it was surprisingly easy. Images taken from a range of astronauts who have spoken on the subject.It’s not the poem I thought I was going to write so I might have another crack at it one day.
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the overview effect
when looked at with an astronaut’s eye the earth is not so very big
from a mere 250 miles up exactly the distance between Athens to Istanbul
the sky that once went on forever is actually as thin as a piece of paper
nature is everything clouds, mountains, forests deserts, oceans, so much ocean
rivers like necklaces of pearls & she glows day, night, sunrise, sunset, glowing in every colour
not all of man’s might can be seen but too much can — erosion, degradation, wounds, sprawling cities, oil slicks, scars
she disregards borders for the foolish political fictions she renders conflict ridiculous
not that the blue marble is big she’s frighteningly mind-bogglingly small so so so very small against
Shakespeare’s birthday/deathday. Each year I try to write something Bill-affiliated. This can be made harder by having a theme superimposed over the top of it (ie, like pandemics or climate change) but at least it forces me to think outside a few boxes for some green inspiration. Which is always a good thing. Need to apologise in advance for the long pome, I didn’t have the time to write a short poem.
If only poets had the power that multinational corporations have to effect change in the world.
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Bill S & his posse of Nature Poets
Bill being a country boy born & bred was a big lover of nature dropping dozens of wildflowers animals, trees, natural events 63 birds, & more into his plays ; with whimsical abandon he set them in forests, on coasts, on rugged heaths — if he were writing today climate change would be his bent
so too Bill Blake’s rage against dark Satanic Mills which were pumping his pristine English skies full of black soot & were, after all, the beginning of man-made climate change
the posse is being assembled
Lawrence & his dark forest soul would definitely be there … with his animalistic magic of snakes & bats & pansies
a third Bill, Wordsworth knew nature was divine & believed true happiness was achieved when existing in harmony with it, always happy to wax lyrical about daffodils, clouds, & Tintern Abbey
youthful firebrand Keats loved nature’s vibrant scents & colours & cool calming water a man who happily sang odes to Nightingales, Autumn, & the Sea would get in on this action
although somewhat simpler in scope another John (Clare) less complex & less well known marvellously describes the natural world & rural life in affectionate vignettes of Winter Evening, Wood Pictures in Summer, & the Little Trotty Wagtail
Emerson’s belief that we understand truth only by studying the song of nature & Humblebees & Snow Storms
& Shelley’s awareness she destroys as well as creates; singing odes to the West Wind, Skylarks & Mont Blanc
& Dickinson finding awe in everything Light Existing In Spring Birds coming down the Walk
& Frost whose name suggests he should be though not a pure nature poet loved Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
many modern poets too are in the posse
the marvellous Mary Oliver who instills poems with wonder-filled images drawn from daily walks near her home Wild Geese & Journeys on Summer Days
& Gary Snyder an activist who speaks with an ancient voice but modern tongue of fertile soil, animal magic, the power of solitude, rebirth; the love & ecstasy of the dance & Mountains and Rivers Without End
but as wonderful as all these nature loving poets are what we really need is for everyone to remember they too are poets, alive in this bleak eternal universe only because our home is a delicately crafted paean to life
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
Big extractive companies don’t care where the goodies are; don’t care what has to be destroyed to get to them; just hope a new source of fossil fuels isn’t found near your place.
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sacrifice zones
big mining, petrochemical companies & heavy industry — that is: extractivists — are all compelled by their gross beliefs
there are places that don’t matter there are people that don’t matter they must think this so these matter
less nothings can be strip-mined-open-pit mined-clear-felled-transformed into toxic waste dumps-dug up-drained-destroyed
so air can be poisoned so effluent can be pumped into rivers so soil can be contaminated with heavy metals
& they will to continue to extract in order to continue making a profit they will continue to sacrifice everything
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 