Poems About Global Warming
Poetry is a creative way to express your feelings about a variety of topics, including global warming. According to those who believe that human beings contribute to global warming, we must increase our awareness of the issue and adopt behaviors that reduce our contribution to greenhouse gases. One way to raise awareness is to publish poetry about climate change. Several authors have done so, including former Vice President Al Gore, who has been involved in environmental awareness since his time in the United States Senate.
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'Global Warming' by Matthew Zapruder
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Matthew Zapruder, the author of three books of poetry, contributed this one to the PBS NewsHour ArtBeat Weekly Poem.
"In old black and white documentaries
sometimes you can see
the young at a concert or demonstration
staring in a certain way as if
a giant golden banjo
is somewhere sparkling
just too far off to hear.
They really didn't know there was a camera.
Cross legged on the lawn
they are patiently listening to speeches
or the folk singer hunched
over his little brown guitar.
They look as tired as the young today.
The calm manner in which their eyes
just like the camera rest
on certain things then move
to others shows they know
no amount of sunlight
will keep them from growing suddenly older.
I have seen the new five dollar bills
with their huge pink hypertrophied numbers
in the lower right hand corner and feel
excited and betrayed.
Which things should never change?
The famous cherry trees
I grew up under
drop all their brand new buds
a little earlier each year.
Now it's all over before the festival begins.
The young.
Maybe they'll let us be in their dreams."
Unnamed, by Robinson Jeffers
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In the 1960s, Robinson Jeffers wrote a poem that predicted the effects of global warming on our planet. It was reproduced in the book, "The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers."
"The polar ice-caps are melting, the mountain glaciers
Drip into rivers; all feed the ocean;
Tides ebb and flow, but every year a little bit higher.
They will drown New York, they will drown London.
And this place, where I have planted tree and built a stone house,
Will be under sea. The poor trees will perish,
And little fish will flicker in and out the windows. I built it well,
Thick walls and Portland cement and gray granite,
The tower at least will hold against the sea's buffeting; it will become
Geological, fossil and permanent.
What a pleasure it is to mix one's mind with geological
Time, or with astronomical relax it.
There is nothing like astronomy to pull the stuff out of man.
His stupid dreams and red-rooster importance: let him count the star-swirls."
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'Global Warming' by Dr. K.C. Prashar
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Dr. K.C. Prahar is a contributing writer for Boloji, an international news outlet. He authored the following poem about global warming in 2006.
"Landed in the Himalayas
is a fierce dragon,
prowling as it does around
peaks and pinnacles
summits and steeps
in the highlands,
its fiery tongue stuck out
licking, lapping on the snows
like they were mere cones
of the mouth-watering ice candies."
Untitled by Former Vice President Al Gore
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Al Gore served as the 45th vice president of the United States during the administration of Bill Clinton. He has been involved in environmental preservation for several years, authoring a book on the subject titled "Earth in the Balance," and starring in a documentary about global warming and climate change, titled "An Inconvenient Truth." The following poem was published in his book, "Our Choice - A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis."
"One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration
Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups
Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools"
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