Climate Change Poem 18

Grapes, September 2009

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 18 takes its cue from "Climate change improves champagne" (Ben Barnier, GlobalPost, Sept. 16, 2011).

Toast

French vintners raise their fluted glasses high
To celebrate a harvest rather strange.
The best champagnes a connoisseur can buy
Are rendered better still from climate change.

Those grapes had once developed in the fall,
But warmer summers speed maturity,
With high school students answering the call
To pick before their term begins. And oui,

It's been about two centuries since last
Those golden grapes were ready on the vine
This early. But they shouldn't age too fast.
More heat could turn their sweetness into brine.

And other wines may fare less well, you know.
It's hotter in the region of Bordeaux.

Audio (1:09):

Part of the Solution website (chosen at random)
GreenBiz , helping companies integrate environmental responsibility into their business practices.
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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