Laughter

Open your eyes, look then listen,

Signs abundant, languages to learn.

Engage and witness, earth’s burden realize

Human footprints broad and deep.

Strive for positive in harm times,

Lift your spirits, respect the other.

In another time, not so long ago,

Widespread standing before felling

Broad green canopy on girth below

Now stressed, many dying,

Poisoned, insect ravaged, pollution spreading,

Habitat lost, species declining.

Above, rivers’ deluge bring, 

Pavement hard crust, can’t absorb,

Waters rise, floods ensured,

Altered ground, soils lost,

Swamps and bogs drained away,

On forest floors cities flourish.

Ground cracked, hard pan dried,

Fires burning long and hot, 

Winds like bellows feed the flames,

Coral heating, bleached white death, 

Heat days numerous, driving stress,

Ice caps melting, climate duress.

Earth suffocates, plastic bagging,

Cities jammed by traffic stalled, 

Drugs claim young before their time,

Leaders argue solutions drift,

Paid to miss-inform, money valued,

Old men slaughter, young are fodder. 

Children play with half a chance, 

Song and dance and finding out,

Make believe, worlds imagined, 

Climb a tree, reach a cloud,

Jump and shout and horse about,

And don’t forget the laughter. 

©️ Steven Tubb, March 2022.