WARNING
Wilmette, IL
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
WARNING
Extended Heat Advisory.
small white box appears for the ninth day in a row.
it didn’t used to be like this
where we stayed inside instead of going down the slide
instead of riding the carousel ride
instead of “your pants are on fire because you lied.”
WARNING
Flash Flood Advisory.
small white box appears.
no big deal, that just means a storm is coming.
it didn’t used to be like this.
where we brushed it off
because “it’s just a few drops”
more.
WARNING
Severe Storm Advisory
small white box appears.
holding my puppy’s shaking body close as she braves through this once again.
it didn’t used to be like this.
where the crash of thunder fell into background noise
and the heavenly flash lit up the entire house
often.
the funny thing about climate change
is not the increasing number of warnings we get
but the vastly outnumbered number of beings
who will never be warned.
the orcas still sing to each other
in the heat
no matter how severe
the cardinal still sings
before the storm
no matter how severe
the bees still buzz to the flowers
before a flood comes
no matter how severe
they do not get warnings
the flood just happens.
the air just gets hot.
the storm just starts.
what a disadvantage they have
and what an advantage we have
that little white box
if only we listened to it
to save the ones who don’t get to see it at all.
funny, isn’t it?
we do nothing with the information we have.
Reflection
Reflection
The sad, funny truth of climate change allowed me to push barriers of emotion that I️ hadn't explored before. The "funny" part of climate change I️ focused on was the idea that only humans know that it is actually happening. And only humans have the power to actually do something about it. Yet, we sit back and watch it happen. In my poem, I️ chose to format the first few opening stanzas as if they were notifications on a phone. Then, I️ went into why these are ironic: animals don't get any notifications. They do not have any information or any warning. But we do. And we still choose not to work towards solving the problem that we created.