By Jeremiah K Durick
PROMPT—No one noticed ...
This is not the climate we were born into,
It’s the climate we brought on ourselves.
They even warned us, but we continued
Until we arrived here, surprised for some
Reason. As if all this wasn’t predicted. Just
Watch tremendous downpours and floods.
Then feel the heat rising and harvest these
Empty fields. Swim out in water as warm as
Bathtub water, even hotter. Watch weather
Programs trying to explain what’s happening
As if we can take it in stride – micro-bursts to
Macro, cyclones to hurricanes, fronts and
Storms of every sort. We get more of them
To name, as if they were our children acting
Out, beyond our control. We love “climate
Change” and “global warming.” We’ve come
To love getting our words to fit what’s going
On around us – like Adam and Eve naming all
The animals they came across. Our version of
This naming may be about the end and not
Some beginning that will play out as we watch
From the sidelines.
J.K. Durick is a retired writing teacher and online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Third Wednesday, Black Coffee Review, Literary Yard, Sparks of Calliope, Synchronized Chaos, Madswirl, Journal of Expressive Writing, Lightwood, and Highland Park Poetry. He writes from South Burlington, Vermont.
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