Fanning the Flames

 

The flames

of global warming

light your horizon,

 

its storms blow

ever more forcefully

against your windows,

 

and the water 

continues to inch

towards your doorstep

 

When you said 

you’d rather die

than give up 

meat / eggs / dairy,

I thought it was 

just hyperbole

 

at first

 

I thought science

would convince you

 

at first

 

I thought you’d realize,

as study after study

revealed “Livestock’s 

Long Shadow,”

 

that it wasn’t just deadly

for the livestock

 

I thought when 

climate change 

knocked persistently 

at your door

 

like an unrelenting 

and unwelcome 

Jehovah’s Witness,

 

that you’d finally 

be able to see

the smoking gun, 

 

the smoking grill

 

But your house is on fire,

your forest is on fire,

your world is on fire

 

And still you stand 

over your barbeque,

 

lamenting the 

sadness of the flames,

 

while you strike 

your next match

14 Sep 2020

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"Livestock's Long Shadow" references this report

"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."

NCBI: Environmental Health Perspectives