by Matthew Quinn
I think it goes back
to the evening news
saying scientists have determined
global warming is now unstoppable.
I just want to kiss
my children on the forehead
and stare out the window
until the tar in the street
is engulfed in flames.
We are such an instant gratification society.
I want my worldwide devastation
and I want it now,
but no. We have to wait like frogs
in a pan
for the slow build up of heat
to catch us unawares.
But rising temperatures might send
Greenland’s glacial sheet
sliding into the sea,
a giant ice cube
blocking warm Caribbean waters
for a mini Ice Age
before the fiery end.
Mixed messages and further delay.
I wrote for posterity
until Katie Couric.
Now I eat popcorn,
watch Missouri Avenue
and wait.
Matthew Quinn is a freelance writer, editor and researcher. He resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with his muse and a menagerie of disembodied voices.
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