A Chelmsford Autumn

(Photos by Jeanne Malouin)

I don't mean to brag about it, but it would be hard

To find better Autumn colors than what's in my yard

Here in Massachusetts, in my quaint New England town.

Hopefully, the rain and wind won't blow all these leaves down.

Pines have shed their needles while the oaks are - mostly - green,

Adding depth and contrast to the view through my porch screen.

Red and orange sugar maples, almost at their peak...

Layers of colors that I'll be enjoying for a week.

Since October's been so warm the colors came on late.

We're about two weeks behind what's normal for the state.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you... Any time at all

Is the perfect time to see this glorious a Fall.

Do The Math

 

How is it, as millions try to flee from Irma's path,

Climate science's deniers still can't do the math?

This is what the scientists predicted coming true.

Ocean's gotten warmer; now the bill is coming due.

Storms that only happen every thousand years or so

Hitting the United States for two weeks in a row?

Catastrophic floods in Houston; Florida's up next.

It seems evident to me that Mother Nature's vexed.

If our prayers aren't answered - if the hurricane won't turn -

I hope Mar-a-Lago floods.  Then, maybe, Trump will learn

It's not just the "little people" global warming hurts,

Businessmen like him are also gonna lose their shirts.

I Guess We Won't Always Have Paris

 

Trump just pulled us out of Paris...  Makes me wanna weep.

Stomach's churning and I'm having nightmares when I sleep.

Planet Earth's the only home the human race has got -

I'll be dead before the oceans rise...  My sons will not.

'though it's hard to narrow his disasters down to one

So far, this could be the worst thing Donald Trump has done.

Climate change is global. Now our country's walked away.

China's filled the role of leadership we used to play.

All the nations of the world and scientists agree

Global warming's happening.  Well, all except for three:

Syria and Nicaragua...  The United States.

Maybe we can lead the countries Mother Nature hates?

Galileo Is Rolling In His Grave

(Courtesy of/www.jantoo.com)

Centuries of conflict between scientists and priests:

Nature of the universe, if we evolved from beasts,

If God gave mankind dominion over all the Earth,

How it's even possible to have a virgin birth.

Now a new Encyclical gives scientists some hope

That they could be looking at a different kind of Pope.

This Pope studied chemistry before he joined the Church;

Francis is inclined to heed the climate change research.

Planet's getting warmer and a major cause is man.

Scientists don't speak the language of the Vatican;

This time, though, their evidence supports the Holy See

And - on man's poor stewardship of Earth - both sides agree.

Is imperative to change a moral one, or not?

In the end it doesn't matter to the Earth a lot.

If we all continue to befoul the place we live

Neither God nor nature's laws are likely to forgive.

Blue Skying

Back a month or 2 ago, fresh snowfall to my waist,

Swore I wouldn't bitch about the heat...  I spoke in haste.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you (even though it's hot.)

I just wish we'd had a springtime.  This year we did not.

We went straight to summer; it's confusing local trees.

They're all dropping pollen, causing everyone to sneeze.

It's still better than tornadoes, floods, or massive drought.

Blue skies aren't something I would dare complain about.

Unsolicited Advice for Proponents of Keystone

(Photo/huffingtonpost.ca)

Keystone XL pipeline didn't get the needed votes.

Tar sand oil from Canada comes down, by train to boats

In the Gulf of Mexico, for shipment overseas

Which - they say - is dangerous...  The GOP agrees.

If, in fact, that is the case than we should fix the rails;

Update infrastructure now, before the system fails.

If we really want to slow our global climate change

Building something permanent for oil transport is strange.

It won't help when fossil fuel dependence's in our past.

Let's create some other kind of jobs; the kind that last:

High speed rail or better roads - a wind or solar farm.

Let's invest in jobs without environmental harm.

NASA Says We're Screwed

Doesn't matter if you doubt that man caused climate change,

If you aren't concerned by now or don't believe it's strange

That the weather's out of whack - the seasons are delayed -

NASA says Antarctica is melting...  Be afraid.

In about a hundred years its glaciers will be gone

Meaning that the land the ice accumulated on,

Without all that weight, will rise and so, too, will the seas;

Causing devastation almost everyone agrees.

Process cannot be reversed, the NASA spokesman said.

Warmer water seeped between the glaciers and sea bed;

Now they're melting from the bottom as well as the top.

We are screwed.  There's nothing we can do to make it stop.

If we don't take action now - prepare as oceans rise -

Because we're too busy arguing that science lies

It won't matter anyway since it will be too late.

Mother Nature isn't proving open to debate.

Dear Gabriel E. Gomez... Thanks, But No Thanks.

The Massachusetts election for U.S. Senate will be held on 25 June 2013.

 

Here in Massachusetts - the election weeks away -

I've begun to listen to what Gomez has to say.

Heard him pledge allegiance to the flag, heard him complain;

Says Ed Markey's old and runs a negative campaign.

Gomez was a Navy SEAL; a unit I respect

(I was in the Navy, too...  What else would you expect?)

But, although I thank him for his service, he and I

Have too many issues where we don't see eye to eye:

Women's reproductive rights, Obama's health care plan,

Guns and ammo, education, climate, Pakistan.

It appears I'm not alone; he's lagging in the polls.

Markey gets my vote for Senate - Gomez for FOX holes.