Climate Change Poem 20

Holly berries, December 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 20 takes its cue from "Climate change hits coffee industry" (Business Daily, Sept. 18, 2011).

Buzz Kill

Once, coffee was a major Kenyan crop,
A money-maker out on the exchange.
But last year its production faced a drop.
In fact, within the coffee-growing range,

Most zones are not expected to sustain
The bean, attacked by insects and disease.
Nairobi scientists can now explain
That rising temperatures allow with ease

The coffee berry borer and the thrip.
More farmers switch their land to real estate,
Abandoning that caffeinated sip.
East Africa is not alone. The fate

Of parts of South America look grim,
Capacity for dark roast growing dim.

Audio (1:07):

Part of the Solution website (chosen at random)
Guardian Environment Network, "news and comment from the world's best environment sites."
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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