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Floating out on Windermere

Floating out on Windermere

Below the towering fells

Enveloped by the beauty here

And hosts of daffodils

 

Over the side of the little boat

Oars churn the placid lake

Where unexpected items float

To the Leven and the Crake

 

They meander through the baby trout

And clog their little gills

Of their origin there can be no doubt

Septic tanks and sewage spills

 

...

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environmentriverslakesLake DistrictPollutionprotecting the environment. sewage

Into Piles

What in the world are we doing?

Who are we trying to beat?

It seems like we live our lives running,

as if we are losing our seats.

 

We never stop building up towers.

We never stop spinning around.

We never stop piling up into piles

everything that we’ve torn down.

 

Is it that we are pursuing

happiness, like the old phrase?

Or are we chasing the concept of such

...

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wastevanityenvironmentharming the environment

Manifesto of Hope (with quote, not paraphrase)

Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth, like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!

(From the Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley)

Below is what I consider to be a Manifesto of Hope, to whose motives and principles I wholly subscribe.

 

Public ownership of all public services and infrastructure, including ...

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NHSNationalisationhomelessnessbread and rosesemployment rightswelfare not warfarecivil libertiesenvironmentracismrefugees

Our Green Earth poets read at Liverpool’s beautiful Palm House

Merseyside poets and musicians performed their environmental anthology last week at Liverpool’s beautiful Victorian Palm House in Sefton Park. Led by Michelle Wright, Barry Woods and Ali Harwood, the event covered ocean pollution, global warming and rainforest reduction, with contributions from many local poets and some first time writers from local schools.

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AliHarwoodMichelleWrightBarryWoodsPalmHousepoetrypoetenvironmentMerseypoetsgreenearthLiverpool

Sympathetic Stars

There’s no point in denying

Our cherished world is dying.

We’re choking it to death

With ill-considered breath

From factories and cars;

Soon sympathetic stars

Will weep at our demise

And curse our leaders’ lies.

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national poetry dayEnvironment

Hoopoe

I

 

Sixty tonne of metal bellowing down the sky

assails the quietude

of reeds and muddy pools

where spoonbills sift through sludge and seagulls drift nearby.

 

The mouth of the Ria Formosa’s a birders’ paradise:

miles of salt pans hosting

birds of low-lying coastline,

in thousands upon thousands. It’s Eden beyond price

 

in every way but one: the fence of Faro A...

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birdsbirdwatchingairportflyingEnvironmentPortugalAlgarve

Our Lungs

 

Be still, and feel

This gentle breeze

That brushes by

With careful ease

And ruffles leaves

Upon their trees

And scatters far

Their fruitful seeds

Which vein the earth

To start anew

So you and I 

Can live here too!

 

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Conservationenvironmentlife

APOCALYPTIC SKY

 APOCALYPTIC SKY

Yesterday

Had proven science fact

Much stranger than fiction:

 

Vivid orange night

Replaced

Bright turquoise morning.

Sunlight was postponed.

Normalcy took a holiday.

 

My neighbour's

Barnyard animals,

Five chickens, two goats,

Didn't know what was going on

With their immediate surroundings.

 

Neither did that lone bird in flight.

...

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environmentclimate changeCalifornia wildfires 2020

There’s a heat wave running wild

There’s a heatwave running wild

 

Theres a heat wave

Running wild

Oblivious of the borders 

Run by the corporate money hoarders

 

There’s a heatwave running wild

As the stealthy arms of 

a monetary system 

Poisoned with greed 

Consumes everything in its path

 

There’s a heatwave running wild

while the blind insatiable pockets of we want more

And insurmo...

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Climateenvironmentcorruptionforestsfossil fuels climate crisis

The Smatterbog

The smatterbog was tepid

Its fluesence slowly heaving

With every gentle billowing 

Of the lively tensile surface 

a fragrant wind was passed

making stealthy breezes

titillate leaves of dew

That shed their droplet treasures 

into the mouths of steaming crocs

as iridescent dragonflies danced 

amongst the reeds 

along the bogsome banks.

‘Twas then the spotted hoary...

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Environmentnatureplanet

Nature's Breath

 

Nature's Breath

 

In those days;
when the shutdown came.
When mankind laid low;
and the money didn’t flow.

In those days,
nature took a breath.
Nature began to heal.
Nature felt relief.

In those days,
the poisons stopped.
The greed died,
and the rich man cursed.

In those days,
the birds sang.
The butterflies flew.
The bumblebee worked.

In those days,
the virus s...

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Environmentnaturelife

The Protectors

THE PROTECTORS

They had stood over me since my birth

Watching, Protecting

Heads bowed in respectful silence

Friends who gave so much

Yet asked for nothing

 

I grew up sheltered by their love

Safe in their strength

Knowing that one day

I too would stand high

And bask in the light of life

 

Eventually they fell

One by one

Giving more light each time

Al...

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TreesEnvironmentNature

Earth's sword

Earth is a curious place.  Sunrise evokes awe

in those who watch a day’s waking hour.  To survive

that day, or consecutive days, we’re totally

reliant upon our ingenuity and

the society we’ve built.  Were it not for our

technology, logistics and planning, many

of us would not be here.  Earth’s beauty hides this harsh,

double edged sword.  Something so beautiful can be

letha...

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survivalhuman survivalenvironment

Accidents Will Happen

For all the aging punks . With apologies to Elvis Costello.

 

Oh I just don't know where to begin:

we don't want it forever

so it's now or never.

We should keep them hanging on

till the investors have gone

and make sure they can’t get in

without a police chaperone.

 

chorus:

 

Because accidents will happen

if we let the frackers win

and we’ll all be the vi...

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frackingspoof songelvis costelloEnvironment

Bigfoot

I’ve left my clomping prints on every shore 
since Africa was Eden in my youth. 
The sand will bear my dent for evermore. 

I chewed-up gum-trees with my baby jaw 
and bit the dry red heart with my first tooth. 
I’ve left my clomping prints on every shore. 

Europe roused my growing thirst for war. 
Her spirit fired me up, one hundred proof. 
The sand will bear my dent for evermore. 

...

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Homo sapienshumanityEarthplanetclimateenvironmentvillanelle

END OF HISTORY SALE!

FINAL DAYS!  TOTAL CLEARANCE!!

The END OF HISTORY SALE is Now On!!!

Buy this planet!  *slightly damaged

When it’s gone it’s gone.

 

It’s a massive,  one-off sale sensation.

Conservation?  Don’t be conned!

We’ve got the whole world for exploitation!

When it’s gone it’s gone.

 

Buy this beautiful hardwood foot-rest!

Timber sourced from the Amazon:

the world’s grea...

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environmentplanetsalehistoryclimate change

Six Degrees

At one degree the western plains 
of the US will be starved of rain,
Bankrupted farmers will pack up and flee
as desert restakes its claim.
There'll be no ice cap on the Arctic,
we'll lose the rivers of Kilimanjaro,
and frost that keeps the Alps secure 
won't do it any more.
The Barrier Reef will bleach and die,
mountain animals will reach the sky
chasing the cool, and those that can't f...

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climate changeglobal warmingParis climate summitEnvironmentEarthFuture

Faced With Tomorrow

Deep inside my swollen body, she kicks

.A tiny survivor, a fighter, a warrior queen,

So small yet she's ready to take on the universe...

...yet I feel guilt at bringing her into a world so unclean.

 

She knows not yet that she faces a future

So shaky, so insecure and unknown.

I'll love and protect her with a tigress ferocity,

But I can only do so much, one day she'll be gro...

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futureunborn childnatureenvironment

Press Pause - an environmental poem

 

Brave was our fight, just to survive
To hunt, to gather, then farm.
Our numbers so small, survival so special,
Don't press pause now, or you'll cause us harm.
 
Our tribal ancestors rose and spread 
Touching and burning each day
Through land and resources, learning some balance,
Can we press pause now? - No way!
 
Centuries pass, and we learn to mas...

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environment

The Bride of Necklace of Tales

By: Ali Taha Alnobani To the leaders of our world © 2011 by Ali Taha Alnobani
Thus the sea was
A bride who has a necklace of tales
A world of love
Dancing in dales
And a glass of wine
Sparkling of delight
In her loosely might
Blue and white
She was yours
She was mine
****
Thus love was
Two warm hands under a...

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Environmentprotecting the environmentearthnaturemotorways and nature spoiled.love lifeEcologyworldlifepeacewar to peacePeace Justice Woman Poewer

The Ole Fishin Hole (Haiku)

The ole fishin hole

Toss a stone it make ripples

Water has turned green.

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haikufishingEnvironment

Nutty Squirrel

This squirrel is crunchy nuts

like Kellogs.

He's oats so crazy.

 

He makes Hammy look

placid, docile.

And with a cheeky smile

wrecks havoc on Hampshire.

 

It'll take more than a New Forest

to stop this rabid squirrel.

He subjugates snails

and bullies badgers.

 

Bonkers, he th...

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NuttyMadSquirrelCrazyNatureEnvironmentHampshireForest

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