Extinction’s Shadow
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Haiku, Image, Poetry, Reverse Senryu, Senryu, art, dark, horror, mystery, tragedy, wisdom
and strongly influenced by prompt #7 at We Write Poems…
•
smothered by big oil
our blue planet is dying
greed’s shadow falls hard
•
future is mortgaged
to petrochemical lust
fatal addiction
•
mankind is drowning
in a flood of fossil fuel
black tide of folly
• • •
rob kistner © 2010
by: rob kistner © 2008
June 25th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Quite the scathing view, Rob. I understand the feelings and as always, enjoy reading your work.
June 25th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
You might want to submit to Poets for Living Waters.
June 25th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
i like “tide of folly” — it’s the first time i’ve seen that word connected with the spill, but it’s certainly appropriate!
June 25th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Senryu are a good medium to distil strong emotions into a succinct statement. Thankyou for these.
June 25th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
A short time from now, the world will have forgotten all about it. How long before The Gulf stops suffering?
June 25th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Thank you Mark…
…rob
June 25th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Appreciate the alert Maureen, I will investigate…
…rob
June 25th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Glad this resonated for you Carolee…
…rob
June 25th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
You are welcome Viv…
…rob
June 25th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Too painfully true Stan, and a poignant question you pose…
…rob
June 25th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
wow - the last senryu is perfect. Really well done. I have reflected on the oil spill graphic/ map you posted earlier this week — all week — and like Stan muses above, I am most worried that we will forget long before the damage is done.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Each verse concise and able to stand alone. Admire the horrible image they collectively create.
ELizabeth
June 25th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Endangered sea turtles being killed in the controlled burns, oil globbing up on white beaches, plans being put in place to evacuate Tampa Bay for a burn, reports of “oil rain” in Louisiana, fishing and shrimping industries wiped out — if anything, “extinction’s shadow” is an understatement.
June 25th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
A grand poem, haiku style. Well done!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Rob, both the art and the poetry are so well done. “Petrochemical lust” - the “gift” that keeps on giving. I hope you are in touch with the Poets For Living Waters project, because this would be ripe for submission.
Your prompting buddy, Amy Barlow Liberatore
June 25th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Nan - we humans seem bent on continually pushing the limits, perhaps beyond the breaking point — we apparently never learn. Mother nature will teach the final lesson, and I am not certain she cares if we pass — she has the power to expel…
June 25th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Our need and greed related to oil is becoming a nightmare Elizabeth — I hope we wake up…
June 25th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Louder and louder the environmental alarms sound and the ecosystem warning lights flash brighter and brighter, but with 100’s of billions of dollars in ongoing annual profit glutting the pockets of the pompous fools at the top of big oil, with the huge-money economic infrastructure that benefits from big oil, and with the world’s political elite sucking the big oil teat — those who really are the only ones capable of effecting timely change, don’t give a shit… the wealth and power is too damned intoxicating, and they figure they will be dead before the piper demands repayment.
It is us, the oil-addicted masses, who must break the cycle of our petrochemical dependence, and by doing so, grind the destructive big oil machine to a halt. Stop buying the repulsive gas-guzzlers. Learn to use our automobiles more responsibly. Act locally to establish truly efficient mass transit, and enact restrictions that will genuinely force the auto makers to reconsider their consumptive product offerings. Vote in political leaders who will hold the big oil offenders liable for their careless greed — not political leaders who are in bed with big oil, or who are themselves, part of the big oil cartel.
For those who say that clamping down on big oil might cause a collapse of our economic system, I contend that is better than a complete collapse of our ecosystem. While neither is desirable — the former is likely survivable as a species, the later almost certainly is not. Glynn, if we don’t step up, speak up, and act up — then we are as guilty as the executives and boards of these exploitive companies, if the destruction of our beautiful planet is the result.
June 25th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Thank you Diane…
June 25th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
You are most kind Amy…
June 26th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Rob, each of these is so right-on. Each says so much. Greed’s shadow INDEED falls hard. I enjoy your work.
June 26th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
The haikus work perfectly together and alone. Each heartbreaking testimonies to our petrochemical lust.
June 26th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
A wonderfully written poem! Thanks for sharing!
-Weasel
June 27th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Well, didn’t you say this just perfectly and to the point. So sad, and such a helpless, hopeless feeling…
June 27th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Goodness, you are darling. Your poems are so delightful, your visuals immaculate. I adore you. Please visit mine sometime, I would really appreciate your feedback.
Afternoon Tea
http://www.madisonreece.blogspot.com
June 28th, 2010 at 9:54 am
Indeed, Rob, everything around us is sounding the alarm. “What have they done to the Earth?” Right now, part of our seas choke on and drown in black oil. Your last stanza really nails it for me. Well done.
-Nicole