Terrible Trouble

Terrible Trouble



In archaic times the word bespeak meant to foretell.

Let me say what I have to say in that way, without

Hubris, or any notice of me or my ego. Although it,

(Mention of the elephant in the room) isn’t currently

In fashion, until it leaves an odorous, huge, steaming

Pile that cannot be ignored, allow me to predict, what,

Unless we change our ways, shall be, the end of us all.


We believe that it is we, the inheritors of the earth, who

Have every right to reproduce, without payment of any

Due, or heed of a future time, when all of us will be,

Through reliance on the marvels of technology, lead

To zilch by the blindness of our husbandry’s avarice.


Warning klaxons sound, both near and far, for all to

Hear. But stupidly, we ignore those loud warnings and

Favour comfort and complacency. Confident that the

Future will sort itself out, as it always has before.


Clasp renewables to our breasts, clean a waterway,

But not to drink. Install scrubbers to remove CO2.

Dilute irradiated, poison residues with even more

Poisonous chemicals, whose residual effects are

Not yet even guessed. While yellow skies hide

Toxic wastes for all to see and breathe. Make spent

Radioactive fuel rods vanish magically in place.


Still, our hopes won’t prevail, as all things created

For billions will, eventually, through the bloat of

Profit, corrupt our DNA, and lower sperm counts,

Unheededly sown to carry more names forward.


But, and this is much too true, it will all happen sooner,

Rather than later, we can be assured, without the fake

Histrionics of hysteria or guilt, or of dry crocodile tears.


For we shall always know that we allowed this to happen

To ourselves because we wanted our comforts now, future

Costs be damned. So upon our offspring let them come due.

Hey You!

Hey You!


Hey you! Can’t you read? You can’t sit there!

She says she’s so very tired, with a newborn

Baby still small and hungry, so blue and cold.

He, an old war veteran, sick, frail and cold too.

Hey you! I don’t care. Your lazy, dirty kind can’t

Sit and rest awhile. You’re not wanted here at all.


Hey you! Move along now. This is public land.

Set aside for people who pay taxes only. Now go!


Hey you! No sleeping here or there, or anywhere.

We say it cannot be, surely you can see that a

Weary person will suffer and die, when nowhere

To sleep is there to be, when needs become dire.


Hey you! You can’t heed nature’s call for relief,

Outdoors, anywhere in this community, at all. We

Have laws against those insidious calls. To protect,

Our most delicate sensibilities, we must, so we say!


Hey you! Chewing, drinking, and swallowing too,

Activities, as you must know, are forbidden to be,

Have a care and don’t have anything to eat, says the

Law. Feeding yourself outdoors here, is disallowed.


Hey you! Get away from me and mine! This public

Area is set aside, but not for you homeless, unclean.

Go away! Vanish, never be seen, again. Don’t ever

Come back. Hey you! You haven’t a right to be a me.