The earth’s the only known paradise, don’t get me wrong
But we have mortgaged our future for a song
They say we are only two degrees from hell
A generation to come will have to ring that bell
Warming hearts did not cause that mess
Neither the poor, for whom coal fires bring bliss
It’s easy to speak from a rich man’s cave
But that isn’t the hallmark of the brave
What on earth got us here?
The answer isn’t what one would like to hear
Fire in the mind rivals that of the sun
In the heat of the moment, great damage is done
Billions of such mental suns burn bright
Fighting proxy wars just out of sight
Mind goads the body to take the fall
It considers itself too holy to get into a dirty brawl
Acceptance and humility cool the air
The ego would say, don’t you dare
Ever in search of a balmy life
Without the scent of strife
But unable to withdraw billowing smokestacks
Of anger and hate, try as one may there’s always danger of relapse
Teetering on the edge every moment
Held steady only by the promise of greater enjoyment
The earthship can right itself
A sign would be a stagnant and frozen ice shelf
If humankind didn’t interfere
By rolling back the speed of life by just one gear
Ignoring the riches locked away in the permafrost
Would spare the future generations the opportunity cost
Two degrees may not seem much
But who are we to judge?
Guilty of consuming fossil fuel
To keep our air conditioned environs cool
The modern mind cannot be inconvenienced
But nature cannot be silenced
An ambling juggernaut
That cannot be fought
Believers and disbelievers alike
Better get away when nature’s fury strikes
It's only two degrees away
A cataclysmic grey
Enemies and friends would have to band together
To figure out how to bring back fair weather
Prevention trumps cure
Why put ourselves at risk to endure?
Green isn’t bad economics
When time runs out, there’s little use for profits
Taking a moment to pause and breathe
Even as thoughts seethe
Rivaling a desert’s summer heat
From where there is no place to retreat
Cools heads can solve this impasse
That threatens the rich and the working class
Waiting for poisoned oceans where fish go belly up
Would put us in the careless club
Given such a grand gift
Very little is needed to inwardly subsist
Eyes can feast on blue and green
While the attention quietly embraces the scene
If there is true love for the earth
Which is life’s only hearth
There would be unity
To keep the weather Gods in equanimity
They always have the last laugh
All that the dinosaurs left behind was chaff
When the weather turned
Their reign was quickly spurned
History always has a lesson to teach
It is silent and does not preach
The rising tides to come
May not have the familiar thrum
There are only two degrees of separation
Between heaven and damnation
The choice is ours
Do we want a predictable bloom of flowers?
- N. Seshadri
