all over the world
people are frantically waving
but failing
to attract the attention
of those who presume
to rule their lives
these desperate people
do not want their lovely world
to go up in flames
do not want glaciers to melt
rain forests to be levelled
animals to become extinct
skies to become polluted
air to be contaminated
seas to rise forever
they are not drowning yet*
but waving
for somewhere in their collective heart
lies the belief that nature will prevail
that it is tenacious enough to survive
the worst that humans can do
is to remove themselves
from the face of nature
Jeff Cloves
*not waving but drowning
poem by English poet
Stevie (Florence Margaret) Smith1902–1971
Illustration: Atlanta Wiggs