{So happy to be back at Pegman, a 150-word challenge to write something related to the area of the world selected for the week. This week, Myanmar is the chosen location for What Pegman Saw.
As a coastal country, Myanmar is feeling the effects of climate change, including a devastating cyclone in 2008 called Nargis, which killed at least 90,000 (the confirmed dead) and is suspected to have killed up to a million, while affecting 2.4 million. The flooding extended 24-31 miles inland. Read more about Nargis at this hurricane site. A broad article about Myanmar’s perspective on climate change as of 2019 is at this news site.
Another inspiration for this poem was the local JaxbyJax Literary Festival which I attended yesterday. One of the remarkable artists I had the privilege of listening to was the poet Tayve Neese. In her prelude to her reading, she described her poems as “eco-lyrics,” and called on each of us to “sound the alarm” with her, through our own literary work.
Living in a coastal region of Florida, I expect my feet would get a bit wet, if ever a flood extended so far inland as Nargis did. So I hope you will allow me to wade into this rather contentious topic.}
Bit by bit, the lake creeps closer.
Bit by bit, my belly sags.
Bit by bit, my hair grows whiter.
Bit by bit, from maid to hag.
Oceans swell and fires grow brighter.
Sinkholes open. Windstorms rage.
Children watch the steady ruin,
Wishing, we would act our age.
As I turn to fat, from muscle,
So the planet wheezes, pants.
Fingers point, in accusation:
All the beasts, from whale to ant.
All the flowers, all the grasses,
All the algae, all the trees
Shudder, pondering their extinction,
At the hands of such, as me.
Should we pivot? Should we volley?
Should we take a drastic turn?
Race away, from such destruction?
Quench the fire, before we’re burned?
But no. We calmly just accept it.
Degradation is our lot.
Play, till bodies, urned as ashes,
Weep no more, for this fair plot.
Copyright 2019 Andrea LeDew
Dear Andrea,
This is one of the best statements/laments on climate change I’ve read. Stunning.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I’m quite a good lamenter. 😊. Thanks Rochelle. Good to be back in the writers’ circle.
I’m very happy to see you back. I hope things are looking up.
Thank you Rochelle. I am happy to be able to finally experience something akin to normality and routine again. Regrettably, my father’s health concerns over the past six months culminated in his recent death, and that will take some time to get used to.
As I said, Im a good lamenter.😬
That’s a tough situation. I was the executor of my father’s will when he passed in 1984. It wasn’t an easy job. Not to mention how much I missed him…and still do. No statute of limitations on grief. My dad was a diabetic who didn’t take care of himself. I watched him slowly disintegrate into a shell before finding his body when he passed. Be gentle with yourself, my friend.
So sorry to hear you had to go through that. It does leave one feeling a bit rudderless. Thanks for the kind thoughts.
This is stunning and powerful. I hope you consider submitting this somewhere else too. I had no idea about the deadly hurricane in Myanmar. I’m glad you chose to highlight this crucial subject in your Pegman post! Lovely to see you!!
Thank you Karen. Its been a rough six months here. Glad to be back!
Polemic poetry doesn’t usually work for me. This does. Well done!
Thanks Penny. It’s hard for a person with legal training to resist pounding the table once in a while!
My sentiments exactly!