a not-so-open letter
Sun Prairie, WI
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
oh, dear lords of climate change,
hi. it’s been a while since we’ve been in touch. i know you’ve been busy. so nice of you to work
overtime while we’re all on summer break—you’re nothing if not dedicated.
i am writing to inform you
that although i am certainly worried about
typhoons
and forest fires
and ocean acidification
i can’t help but fret most over the fact that the newly disturbed weather patterns
make for humidity
and that messes with my hair
i am most sincerely concerned
about heat waves
and flash floods and droughts and storms
but i’m just a little more worried
about how the sharp rise in power cuts
always interfere during the punchlines
of my favorite comedies
and it is of the highest priority to me
that we remedy how your sweltering, blazing heat
that suffocates entire populations
and forces mass migrations
also happens to make me crave ice cream 24/7. be totally honest—
do you think i’ve gained a few?
the funny thing about you
the thing that honestly makes me giggle, delirious, between panic attacks,
is that you are designed to
unspool
everything
you are swirling storms and crying mothers
but you at the same time,
you inhibit me from buying some of the trendiest clothes around right now. c’est la vie—
goodbye, perfect $3 crop top
the extra ten bucks isn’t the only thing scary about your shipping processes
but lately,
i’ve been thinking
maybe we could do more this summer
than binge on comedies
and experiment with hair gel (hard fail, according to my mom)
and single-handedly keep Ben & Jerry’s in business
maybe we could do something
about you
perhaps the point of you,
the point that matters
is that you are nothing if not dedicated, and this means that you
are everywhere. in everything.
because i’m old-fashioned
and my grandmother taught me to always close my letters
with a proper send-off, i wrote a mini poem
especially for you
to celebrate the start of summer. here goes:
Roses are red, violets are blue. We want to be polite but we loathe you. Please stop.
You are resolutely and roundly unsexy.
most sincerely and respectfully,
humanity
(but specifically one disgruntled teenager, with bad hair, a dead TV screen, and jeans that no longer fit)
Reflection
I set aside my textbooks and abandoned the TedTalks to reflect on how climate change's effects impacted me personally and immediately. In some ways, it felt shallow and maybe even whiny to make the tongue-in-cheek, teasing observations I did in my poem—however, throughout my creative process, I found that there was energy and strength in taking note of the mildly irritating along with the undeniably devastating. Somewhere along the way, I was able to recognize that when discussing climate change, we often acknowledge its large-scale impacts—and these are, of course, vital—but my approach is more personal, representing effects on our day-to-day lives. I believe that the small ways that climate change alters our habits, relationships, and outlook are critical, because these visible, individual, current differences are often what spur people to take action. I recognize that I am privileged to live in a region of the United States that has mostly been spared from large-scale climate disasters. However, it remains my responsibility and desire to join voices across the world in the great fight for a livable planet—for the sake of climate justice and our favorite comedies!