Climate Change Poem 17

Hundreds of miles from Hurricane Rita, October 2005

Two global events are occurring on September 24, 2011:

1. Moving Planet, a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis.


2. 100 Thousand Poets for Change, a demonstration/celebration of poetry to promote serious social, environmental, and political change.


I thought: Why not do both?

Barring an emergency, I am posting from midnight to midnight, one poem per hour (at any time during that hour). That's starting from 00:00-01:00 and ending at 23:00-24:00 Eastern Time today.

All the poems are sonnets. Each takes its cue from an article dealing with climate change. The articles had been posted beginning on September 15 -- the date of the 24-hour Climate Reality Project that inspired me to do this -- to September 19, the day I drafted the twenty-fourth poem.

The poem for Hour 17 takes its cue from "Expert says climate change caused flooding in Sindh" (M. Waqar Bhatti, International News, Sept. 18, 2011).

Pendulum

For twelve months, Sindh had not a drop of rain,
But now the Pakistani province floods,
A vast monsoon that makes it hard to drain.
They're not accustomed to these streams and mud

That drenched a region, dropping in four weeks
What normally it gets across five years.
The weather's hit unprecedented peaks.
A pattern of intensity appears,

With frequency increased for these events.
And though disaster workers can prepare,
Conditions test the best of management.
These new extremes affect how millions fare,

Revealing what a changing climate brings:
A pendulum that's making wider swings.

Audio (1:15):

Part of the Solution website (chosen at random)
Forests and Climate Change, "an online resource for collaborative knowledge sharing about the science, policy and people involved in the global debate over how to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation."
Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other JourneysPromote Your Page Too Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.), Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite, Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny, Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines, Vol. 5, Deviations: TelZodo, Vol. 6 and conclusion: Deviations: Second Covenant.Free downloads at the Deviations website (click here for alternate link), Smashwords, and Manybooks.

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