Life in the Time of Climate Change
Brown grass crackles like broken glass
as you walk
heavy air sucks your breath
as you talk,
sweat pours out your body
an inner dam has broken,
the devil’s bonfires light the sky,
Maui horrors unspoken.
At Earth’s ends penguins waddle,
in the air around them frightening cracks
as chunks of ice the size of cities break away,
polar bears best watch their backs.
Folks in South Beach don’t cease their play,
oblivious to nature’s surprises,
glaciers continue to dissolve,
in Miami sea level rises.
The rich, the retired, the renegades
continue their march to the sea,
what a surprise when they’re swallowed up
and their paradise ceases to be.
Many continue to scoff at this threat,
turn on their lights, watch roaches scatter,
those roaches will inherit the earth,
to them climate change doesn’t matter.
Jim Burns was born and raised in rural Indiana, and earned degrees at both Indiana State University and Indiana University. He then spent the bulk of his professional career as a librarian. A few years into retirement he decided that doing nothing wasn’t a good fit and returned to a long-held interest in writing, especially poetry, and since the pandemic years has published nearly 30 pieces. He lives with his wife and dog in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Marbled Sigh 