In my dream were autonomous city-states
On mountaintop islandsꟷ self-sufficient zones.
I dreamed we’d abandoned the concept of gates,
And travelled in armored antigravity drones.
I saw steeples, minarets and a former mountain crest,
Awash in the waste of overpopulation
In dead brown oceans, to suggest
Our hypocrisy, apathy, and inaction.
Robotic militias engaged and did clash—
Machine belligerents in conflict amid rats.
They maneuvered on mounds of rubble and trash,
Commanded from armchairs by technocrats.
With selfish abandon we blindly proceeded
To exploit earth’s pristine fragility.
Her cries for help went unanswered, unheeded
In our rejection of sustainability.
Through neglect and for profit we had failed to repair
Our beautiful blue pearl— to forestall the slow death
Of her forests and oceans, her soil and her air.
In our consumption of life, we deprived her of breath.
From this dream of entropy and pollution,
With relief it was good to awaken.
There won’t be a simple, convenient solution,
But some points could be taken:
Her ecosystems let’s restore and revive
‘Til all living species thrive healthy and free.
Let’s help her self-heal, rejuvenate and survive.
Let’s be the good stewards we’ve all failed to be.
Phase down consumption, population and waste.
Preserve her, conserve her, before it’s too late,
Examine our greed, our impulses, our haste.
Nonaction will seal our untimely fate.
On mountaintop islandsꟷ self-sufficient zones.
I dreamed we’d abandoned the concept of gates,
And travelled in armored antigravity drones.
I saw steeples, minarets and a former mountain crest,
Awash in the waste of overpopulation
In dead brown oceans, to suggest
Our hypocrisy, apathy, and inaction.
Robotic militias engaged and did clash—
Machine belligerents in conflict amid rats.
They maneuvered on mounds of rubble and trash,
Commanded from armchairs by technocrats.
With selfish abandon we blindly proceeded
To exploit earth’s pristine fragility.
Her cries for help went unanswered, unheeded
In our rejection of sustainability.
Through neglect and for profit we had failed to repair
Our beautiful blue pearl— to forestall the slow death
Of her forests and oceans, her soil and her air.
In our consumption of life, we deprived her of breath.
From this dream of entropy and pollution,
With relief it was good to awaken.
There won’t be a simple, convenient solution,
But some points could be taken:
Her ecosystems let’s restore and revive
‘Til all living species thrive healthy and free.
Let’s help her self-heal, rejuvenate and survive.
Let’s be the good stewards we’ve all failed to be.
Phase down consumption, population and waste.
Preserve her, conserve her, before it’s too late,
Examine our greed, our impulses, our haste.
Nonaction will seal our untimely fate.
Let’s buy less, save more, slow down, and sustain.
Our precious earth let’s tread lightly upon.
Let’s respect her, protect her; alleviate her pain,
Our precious earth let’s tread lightly upon.
Let’s respect her, protect her; alleviate her pain,
Or in the blink of an eye she’ll be gone.
Will Walsh
Will Walsh