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Rachel Bodle
May 28, 2019

Inspired to poetry

This post to the Forum from Pam Kelly was hidden away as a comment - I've started a new poetry thread so that more people may see it

 

"Here is the poem I promised you.

NO BUTTERFLIES

 

"But that was in the days

when we had butterflies"

said the grandmother in

the TV play "Years after Years"

set in the future. I cried.

 

Part of me died when I heard

those words, and still they go

round and round in my head.

That night in bed I wondered

how many more insects, birds

and animals would become

extinct in my lifetime.

 

What have we done? We had

so much; an abundant earth

with water, sun and the fresh

green beauty of grasses, plants

and trees. We must act now.

It is our duty.

 

4 comments0 replies
katiekazoo71
May 29, 2019

thank you Rachel for highlighting Pam's piognant contribution - I am currently working on a series called Humans of XR Shaftesbury documenting the friendly, inclusive, creative, authentic & diverse members of both XR Shafesbury & PS which will go live on both XR & PS fb & ig in the coming weeks once it has been collated & curated. Pam has very kindly agreed to be the first profile featured & this is her creative contribution for the series. If anyone else is keen to be featured please do get in touch with me either here or ig or via email etc , I will be making a forum post about it too after the bristol protest this saturday is out the way, I'm busy making placards! :)) I'm hoping people will want to get involved - the more the merrier & we will then have a beautiful visual collective documenting our friendly , growing and inclusive community! I hope to get some editorial space for us when it is finished! <3

1
Richard Foreman
Jun 7, 2019

Here's one I wrote a few years back. Sadly, not yet out of date...

 

 

For Sale

 

quiet location on spiral arm of the Milky Way

well presented, detached planet

seven spacious and charming continents

set amidst rolling, cerulean oceans

heating system in need of some renovation

 

ideal first time investment for extra-terrestrial species

with suitable technology and know-how

to stem a rampant excess of carbon dioxide

methane, nitrous oxide, ozone…

the whole, roiled gamut of greenhouse gases

 

fantastic opportunity to restore

depleted, misused, natural resources

scattered fragments of once vast rain-forests

homelands engulfed by rising seas

and the vestigial remains of polar ice-caps

 

potential to update and extend

vastly depleted wildlife species

compromised attempts to establish

sustainable industries, renewable energy supplies

and responsible agricultural development

 

this planet enjoys an elevated position

with outstanding, panoramic views of the universe

an elegant world, with versatile accommodation

previous owners

now deceased

2
Richard Foreman
Jun 24, 2019

Not poetry as such but my rewrite of Bob Dylan's 'The Times They Are a-Changin' has been requested, so

 

come politicians and industrialists

it’s time that you all began to admit

so much you have done hasn’t helped us a bit

and there ain’t no use in denyin’

you’ve sunk us all deeper and deeper in shit

for the climate is a-changin’

 

young people, school strikers, take it to the max

for none can afford to sit back and relax

as those with the wealth they falsify facts

while their taxes they are avoidin’

it’s time to undo the way things are stacked

for the climate is a-changin’

 

come lovers of species so precious and rare

that will soon be extinct if we don’t start to care

for the planet we live on, its seas and its air

why can’t we all just start sharin’

without exploitation what’s left of what’s there

for the climate is a-changin’

 

come media people and BBC news

the time it is past for ‘exchanging views’

and tabloids that twist with the slickest of screws

it’s time you all started agreein’

our planet’s no longer a thing to abuse

for the climate is a-changin’

 

come folk who think your lives safe and secure

think technology will give us the cure

the affluent lifestyle’s not fit to endure

the changes we need to be makin’

and over-consumption must lose its allure

for the climate is a-changin’

 

bob said the line’s drawn, the curse it is cast

and he wasn’t kiddin’, it’s happening fast

diversity mustn’t slip into the past

our chances are rapidly fadin’

and anyone left will look back aghast

for the climate is a-changin’

0
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