RIVERWOODS POEMS: WISHFUL THINKING

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WISHFUL THINKING

Carbon is not our only bane.

More dangerous is potent methane

Rising from every cattle herd,

From every landfill undeterred

And melting permafrost up north:

In cumulus clouds it billows forth.

Four hundred thousand Hiroshimas

Equal one day of noxious gases.

Oh for a breath of Eden’s clear

Unpolluted ambient air,

Oceans of fat unfettered fish,

Springs of water pure and fresh,

Verdant fields immune to drought

And temperate zephyrs from the south.