Artivism
Brookline, MA
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Climate change got humanity stuck
We need a savior like Tatum in the clutch
Where’s the dog like Butler, take your shot, chuck it carbon sinks
getting drained like his buckets
Euro-stepping through the fire like he Dutch
My teacher’s a climate change skeptic
He provided no sources, not eclectic
His takes were straight from Ben Shapiro
Didn’t play for the Heat but that’s his Herro
What to say? He was eccentric
I once knew this guy with six trucks
Like Giannis he played for them Bucks
Always in the woods he was hunting ‘em down
Till the day he shot the last one straight to the ground
With no food he went hungry; all he could say was aw shucks
Burning bright like a star
Their color as brilliant
We wish from afar
They still march on, militant
They crackle and sputter
With a natural pulse
Always consuming
Shudder; convulse
In maps we record their grim gradation
The telltale signal, growing ever higher
Lined up in columns, in perfect formation
A terrible, beautiful, natural wildfire
Dear Swanny
I wonder
Will we ever meet again
Will the ocean open up
Or at least, the borders?
Do you still know my language?
I have to confess
I’ve forgotten yours
If I ever knew it at all
You must remember
Because who else will
They’ve left us alone
To clean up their mess
And I can’t do it
Without you
Reflection
I tried to write my limericks in a way that would be understandable and relatable to people who need to be reached. Climate change messaging is often inaccessible and indigestible, and so I wrote verses that are relevant and fresh. I focused on deep, common human emotions for my free verse poems. This is how we make people care about issues that seem far away and so specific; intense stories are highly effective.