Poem written for the U.T. Southeast Climate Science Conference set for March 27, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was canceled.
By Marilyn Kallet
Climate Elegy and Ode
Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness? Alas,
more like seasons of withered
grass and wildfires,
seasons of flood, seasons
of drought.
When a 16-year-old is
smarter than an elected
official, you tell me––
whom should I vote for?
And that “Ode to a Nightingale”––
when was the last time
you lingered in melodious trill?
In the age of humans,
in the anthropocene,
we’re the ones who must
save our planet,
our children’s
future, reverse the burn.
Sunscreen alone won’t do it,
my friends. Listen to the
zebra finches warble about warming.
They hatch smaller eggs now, that
hold a greater chance
of thriving.
Like them, we must
build smaller, more
sustainable nests.
The children are singing boldly,
hoping
the adults will hear.
Listen, this may be our
one shot
at composing a score
for them and theirs.
Let’s sing as if
the air
and life itself
depends
on our tender,
determined
voices.
Note: The opening line is from Keats’s “Ode to Autumn.”