[Diane]

 

Since global warming

has been worming through the news

for decades, maybe

 

we could explore the notion

that omitted action forms

 

hollow words that cures

nothing and insures sustained

social affliction.

 

[Chuck]

 

Hell, I know that Big Oil

has toiled hard and long to 

 

counter the science

that has strong evidence that

burning fossil fuels

 

releases cruel forces from

an unbalanced, fierce Nature.

 

[Kevin Jacobs]

 

Then, economic

barons, king makers and slick

tongued narcissists must

 

not be missed in our quest

to express details charting

 

the best path forward

thwarting the repercussions

of elders’ errors.

[Cole]

 

If that be the case, then we

should, with good grace, race back to

 

the lost place of Man’s

ancient ancestors who walked

upright and buried

 

their dead (with some unknown dread)

that lead to key rituals

 

that grew and transformed

into the actionable,

diverse religions

 

that infuse the world’s cultures

of modern human’s ample

 

displays of correct

ways to allay evil’s play

to corrupt goodness

 

and the ceremonious

tribute owed the august gods.

 

[Bob]

 

Odds are, you’ve quickly

expressed, potentially, more

content for your day’s

 

event than, easily, can

be presented well in a

 

competent manner.

You have, however, keenly

uncovered three key

components humanity

must see as a recipe

 

that feeds destruction,

or heeds quality living.

Uplifting exchange!

 

[Diane]

 

Let’s unpack one at a time

delineating aspects

 

that just might project

a conclusive paradigm

that helps us align

 

behavior with principle.

Let’s stir the climate-change-pot

 

that has already

moved Big Oil to the top

 

of our concerns.

 

[Sarah]

 

I’ve just quizzed the internet.

Cop 27**, again,

** United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties. Pronounced: “cop twenty-seven.”

has fallen far short

to inject forceful action

to protect Earth from

 

global warming soaring past

the critical one point five

 

degrees celsius.

It’s like intelligent life

is callous to its

 

pitiful self destruction, 

but then again, it isn’t

 

unlike addiction

to intoxication that

swells to false euphoria

 

that distorts natural form

that deforms efficiency

 

into stumbling,

slurring, comatose psyches.

Unchecked, death follows,

 

but not quickly, through long years

of dried-eyed tears, numbing fears,

 

and bloated organs

in a boiling cauldron

of Swiss-cheese-brains spiced

 

with dull senses needing more

intoxicants to maintain

 

the blandness of Fate’s

immovable pace to waste

a once precious life.

 

The annual COP cycle

began in March of nineteen-

 

ninety-five to strive

to find agreement between

disparate nations

meant to escape natural 

disasters from ignorant,

 

oligarchical

human errors of selfish

brusk inclinations.***

*** Competition breeds brusqueness.

COP 27 ended

in twenty-twenty-two just

 

a few months ago.

That renders twenty-seven

years laced with a fear

 

that continues to steer us

into arguments that swirls

 

our discussions

around a black hole that will

exert its control

 

to pervert an accurate

assessment of a dire

 

predicament for

all living organisms

occupying Earth.

 

[Chuck]

 

But while burning fossil 

fuels is the tool that rules trapped

 

gasses that will wrap

Earth in a transparent cloak

that chokes off escape

routes for sun rays like a warm,

woolen blanket that delays

 

loss of body warmth

on cold winter nights; oil

must deter arctic

 

blasts that can last for days, weeks

or months. It’s a dilemma.

 

[Sarah ]

 

Contra to the view

from Big Oil’s perspective

for more revenue

 

is the harvesting of wind

and solar assets that will

 

offset the harmful

effects of fossil fuel use.

We’ve no excuse not

 

to invest capital funds

in sustainability.

 

[Yolanda ]

 

Our discussion

has awakened my thinking

about pollution,

 

as in human pollution.

Population explosion