Tuesday 13 December 2011

Elegy to the Dying Planet



Not many years ago
You could drink water straight from a flowing stream

Not many years ago

You could walk barefoot and be at peace

Not many years ago

We could say when it would rain

Not anymore.


Lakes, rivers, streams

Chocked with industrial wastes

Broken glasses, plastic, clothes, chemicals

Strangling the last breaths of the soil

Erratic rains, unsteady rain patterns

False clouds, the Met Guys know it!

Dangerous fumes let loose

Intoxicating the skies

Nations rocking bombs, nuclear race

Senseless experiments for “superiority”
And so, Nations converge in some Conferences
Waving the magical wand—we have the solution
So they recite the symptoms and hide the prescription
It is a power game and well guarded interests prevail

Meanwhile, the Climate Change is some exciting talk

You see, to cool off some steam from hot politics
Nations send their own to commit to what they won’t fulfill
Tell me, where is the panic
When all we see is a planet teetering off to oblivion?
Surely, there would have been some urgency
If “national interests” were at stake, right?

So, hyacinths literally suffocate lakes,

Oil leak into water masses,
Buildings are erected on streams,
Forests are depleted,
Wildlife poached,
Condemned buildings are built
Only to collapse and bury the innocent
In Naivasha, flamingos drank pesticides
Emitted from flower farms
Now, Naivasha is an Elegy


Ours is a world gone insane

Multi-billion industries raking billions
And wrecking havoc;
What is the “market value” of pure air?
What is the price-tag of a marabou stork perched on a tree?
Which money will buy Paradise Lost?
What of the Maasai Mara?
Yet, money will exchange hands
For a “private developer” to build on a stream
Where was Environmental Impact Assessment?
Who honours Kyoto Protocol?

This is the Eulogy to a dying Planet

Never in our history are we in much danger
This planet is falling apart!

5 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

You tell it true, and it is a scary story when all put together. All while the Money Men control, and nothing changes. Sigh. It is hard to hang onto hope in the face of it all - and yet, somehow, we must. Your writing is amazing.

theunknowngnome said...

And where's that illustrious U.N.? Nothing but illusional deludings.

theunknowngnome said...

The "illusional deludings" referring to the endless conferences, Kyoto, etc and not meaning your Elegy. :)

echoesofthehills said...

From my readings of Environmental Law, there have been many conferences and reports-- the Stockholm Conference, The Brundtland Report, the Kyoto Protocol, the Durban Conference et al. The question begs, are we having those conferences for the sake of them or for some issues which are more pressing, more urgent? Do we pass "platitudinous platitudes" or are we genuinely imbued with the intentions to honour them?

These are the difficult questions which U.N. needs to address its mind to. Otherwise, those conferences will be some repeated rituals. There is more that can be done more than what is happening. We owe it to our children!

echoesofthehills said...

Thanks Koko. We owe it to our children! We owe it to the future generations. It is pretty scary and I am very very scared too.

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