Last July was the hottest month, ever.
That is, ever since we ‘officially’ started tracking weather.
The Earth is lying on the bathroom floor, wrists severed;
I wonder whether this is a storm we can weather,
Or whether we’ll all perish together.
Greenland lost 12.5 billion tonnes of ice sheets.
That is,
The island that was 80% ice is becoming one, giant, puddle.
The earth is about to be slain, a warrior conceding defeat;
Huddle up, give your loved ones a cuddle,
For we are so troubled that any aliens out there must be truly befuddled.
My generation was born with a guillotine looming over our heads.
An impending sense of dread,
As corporations put on their executioner’s hoods,
And reach for the lever.
A sordid reality in which to save the planet,
One must fight one’s own government;
A reality in which we may have done permanent damage,
A reality in which valour gets no monuments,
But only condemnation and incarceration.
Remember these names:
Julian Assange. Currently awaiting an 18-count indictment charge from the US.
Edward Snowden. Could face up to 30 years in prison if the US get their hands on him.
Chelsea Manning. Spent 7 years in prison.
Abdullah Öcalan. In prison since 1999.
Edem Bekirov. A man who has been dying in prison for the past year.
Benny Tai. Sentenced to over a year for fighting for what is right.
Nasser Zefzafi. In prison for the next 20 years.
Kerry Shakaboona Marshall. A man who received a life sentence aged 17 years old.
Simon Blevins, Richard Roberts, and Richard Loizou. Sentenced to over a year for fighting fracking.
Tim DeChristopher. 21 months for fighting oil and gas pipelines.
Stella Nyanzi. The raunchy Ugandan poetess who cannot be tamed, no matter how many times prison beckons.
This list is basically endless.
It is saturated in blood that drips from the corners of the page,
Soaked in the rage of brave men and women, living in a cage.
Depression. Exhaustion. Numbness.
Oppression and a lack of caution,
Leading us to this dumb mess.
This can no longer be the norm.
We can no longer conform,
Nor can we compromise or haggle;
We must reverse our own demise,
For this is our generation’s battle.