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| “‘Sleepwalking toward climate catastrophe:’ World must slash emissions immediately, UN report says.” —USA TODAY, November 26, 2019. Photo: Lightning is seen over the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 4 as Hurricane Dorian approaches Carolina Beach, N.C. (Elijah Nouvelage/For The Washington Post) |
We know there is only today
and that yesterday failed
to stop the planet’s demise.
That egos balloon up huge
and denying. Storms twirl
on gusts and blusters.
Whoever named the Black
Friday meant those days
after the forgetting,
the pivoting on spindles
as if the sunrise will always
bring on the chitter of chickadees.
When we are thankful,
we own the worry,
plumb the despair and feel
that today we are breathing.
That today we are breathing
and for this gentle gratitude.
Tricia Knoll acknowledges the irony of the bleak U.N. climate change report coming out during the Thanksgiving week in the United States. With forecasts of a polar bomb on the way, she buckles her boots. She is an eco-poet who lives in Vermont.