New Year’s Day, 2020

Do not go gentle, children, into that damned night
Your sky’s been robbed, our day is nearly done
Rage, rage against them bastards killed the light

Some in second youth gave up the fight
We heard ice crack, saw Arctic glaciers crumble
Then booked ourselves a crafty weekend flight

Well nature incarnate in you says that’s not right
Says heed the flood, the flames, the ravaged land
The acid seas where coral bones grow white

Says hear the shrieks of pain and loss and fright
The urgent call of Earth, who birthed and raised
Us all, good creatures beautiful and bright

Hearts know it’s love that knits all nature tight
Weaves every strand into one shimmering veil
And nature laid old carbon out of sight

But now our teeming home is charred with blight
The veil is torn, we teeter into dark
Because the greed, the profits of our plight

So shine my brilliant loves, the torch is yours
Do not go blind into this coming night
Rage, rage against them bastards killed the light

C. MacDonald
with apologies to Dylan Thomas

Image credit: Ben Stansall, Getty Images. School strikers for the climate in London, February 2019.

4 Replies to “New Year’s Day, 2020”

  1. Well that was gutsy but you pulled it off! No need to apologize to DT I think. Yes, I feel that this is the do or dystopia decade.

  2. Thanks for your comment, Michelle. Gutsy – I like that!

    Do/dystopia – don’t know if you’ve come across (or would even wish to come across) this https://twitter.com/CarbonBrief/status/1211631520760221696
    The globe’s well on track to smash through the (arbitrary) 1.5C ceiling. Who’s got the stomach for the necessary immediate cliff-edge drop in material consumption, I wonder? Are we stuck with Power Ahead And Be Damned?

    It’s a bit feeble for my generation to be looking to children to do something about it, when we should be serving as elders, but I do at least want them to feel motivated and empowered.

  3. Excellent prose Chris. Deep in truth and terrifying in reality, we rush towards an altered basis. The possibility of altering this rushing flight seem slight. Our burgeoning billions all in search of better life. When I see everything acquired and required in my life vehicles, home lighting, heat, a/c. How much can we change?And yet we must.
    A new decade is upon us and looking forward see years of striving ahead of us. Adapt we must, blessing in your endeavors.

  4. Thanks Colby, I feel much the same way. Me and my little clan depend on the intensively material trappings of modern life and I can’t seem to see a way beyond that. It’s like waiting for a cue from society for everyone to go cold turkey at the same time.

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