by Jean Liebert
The state of Pennsylvania
Was the start of oil-mania.
After that: one, two, three,
Came World War I, autos and me.
Was our earth ready for that?
Yes. As fast as you could say scat,
Grandpa, father, uncles galore,
Bought autos, then marched off to war.
They were inundated in Maine ,
Germany and France were the same.
Few spots in the world were car-less.
We had to admit it was a mess.
Where was I during all this?
Growing up in a state of bliss.
Not a clue as to what awaited:
“Global Warming for the ill-fated.”
Now as the end of life comes to me,
I find oil wells up the same tree.
We all have had our day.
Time to quietly slip away!
Jean Thurston Liebert, age 91, lives in Corvallis, Oregon. She writes poetry, short stories and novellas. Her published work is included in Apricot Memories, a non-fiction history of the apricot industry in California, Linn Benton Community College’s Collections and the Oregon Writers Colony anthology, Take a Bite of Literature. She recently completed a memoir, Another World.
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