A Poem for Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
By Mark Miner
The face of Al Gore in a rice paddy
"Will you have courage?" he mouths
the farmers plod on with their farming
Nobel Prize is not in their vocabulary.
Eighteen, and off to college,
Daddy, he worries, you know,
and he got a good deal on a pickup,
to help you be safe as you go.
And the smudge on the nation's one city,
and the air of the college's town,
are alike shadowed dim grim and gritty
and the residents suck it all down.
We are all one world, we all are alone,
Communities summed from the one,
Our wants and our needs and reasons unknown
Until our green earth is all done.
And no, I am not fatalistic,
And yes, I want to go green,
But damn it, let's be realistic,
We don't know what all this will mean.
"We must all lend a hand,
every one." Every one?
From the star in the band,
to the child in the sun?
From the narcocorrido cruzando at night,
to the frightened poquito who must turn off the light?
Will the net really reach to the ends of the earth?
Will the next generation continue the birth
of Planitia Utopa? Or will they reverse
any gains that we give them, and purchase the curse
(that we hoped to avoid) for their pleasures and joys?
So, to Al I say "Good work, continue the fight."
And we'll see in the end if he's actually right,
and we'll see if we muster the spirit to choke
out some pleasures that harm us, or if it's a joke
to the vast mass of people who live for today.
And we hope, right or wrong, not to get swept away.
Footnote: The author would add a caution to Mr. Gore to not violate rights to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness in his quest against the unmistakable warming trend exhibited by the earth. The author would also add a caution to those loose constructionists of the foregoing triad of rights who neglect community effect at local, regional, national, or global scales. The author also really appreciates the excellent work of the scientists on both sides of the aisle who support thoughtful and unbiased research in the myriad subjects connected with the imprecise phrase "global warming". Happy hunting!
