A Glimmer of Hope

Apparently I’ve been waxing rather serious of late and have had requests from some of my regular readers for an offering which leans towards the lighter side. To that end, I wish to respond with the following poem and comments. In this fragile world we all share, we seem to be running out of lots of things people care about, things like rain forests, ozone, oil, agricultural land, old growth timber, certain species of animals and the like. On the other hand, folks are frustrated because we seem to have too much of other less desirable things, such as land fills, pollution, expended nuclear fuel, cars and so on. Isn’t that just the way of things. We use up all the good stuff and wind up with lots of what we don’t want left over. I was pondering the likes of such eco-cerebral paradoxes early in the evening on a recent camping trip and was encouraged to discover that at least one species was still thriving, not only in spite of man but partially because of him as well. In fact, I made a significant personal contribution that night to help ensure the survival of said creatures. Sometimes you just have to look at the lighter side of things, even if they are annoying. Here’s hoping you can find a way to help save the world that doesn’t itch quite so much.

A Glimmer of Hope
We are polluting the air and water
Depleting the oil and coal
The ozone layer is growing thin
And the toxic dumps are full
Gnat catchers and spotted owls
Are in gravest danger, they say
And rain forests are disappearing
At an alarming rate each day
We’re running out of almost everything
On this most fragile biosphere
But glad tidings, fellow outdoorsmen
No shortage of mosquitoes here
By Frank Carpenter ©