Tuesday November 9 (Poetry Challenge Day 36)
Some say yes,
some say no.
You can’t remember a time when the climate
was much different than today.
Good for you,
neither can I.
But why should we base the lives and livelihoods
of future generations on our memory?
Can you remember what the climate was like
a thousand years ago, ten thousand, one hundred thousand?
No?
Neither can I.
But there is a way we can…
it’s called science.
Glaciologists are answering these questions today.
All we need to do is pay attention.
Note: Just a couple of weeks ago, U.S. Wildlife officials announced the extinction of 11 birds, 8 fresh water mussels, 2 fish, and 1 bat. “We find speaking of the Anthropocene, even speaking in the Anthropocene, difficult. It is, perhaps, best imagined as an epoch of loss - of species, places and people - for which we are seeking a language of grief and, even harder to find, a language of hope.” - Robert MacFarlane.