World Fire | Patrick Connors

The World is On Fire

It’s Hotter Than It’s Ever Been

British Columbia's forests are ablaze
burning centuries of growth
killing innocent animals
threatens the communities
the very fabric of the civilization
that produced the pollution
and caused the greenhouse gases
which raised the temperature of our planet.

Wildfires in Chile, February 03, 2023
(Earth Observatory, NASA)

 
The wind blows
plumes of acrid smoke
over the Rocky Mountains
across the Prairies
under the waterline
through the 6:00 news

blots the sky with ashen cover
that turns the setting sun into a dire warning.

Wildfires in Chile, Detail from photo above, February 03, 2023
(Earth Observatory, NASA)

California also burns, and Greece, too.
Catastrophic flooding in Africa and Europe
and New York and New Jersey, so-called
500-year events that are happening 
with increased frequency.
Just when it seems it can’t get worse,
Greenland’s ice summit witnesses rain
for the first time in recorded history.

This color-coded map displays a progression of changing global surface temperature anomalies from 1880 through 2018. Higher-than-normal temperatures are shown in red and lower-than-normal temperatures are shown in blue. The final frame represents the global temperatures five-year averaged from 2014 through 2018. Scale in degrees Celsius. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. Data provided by Robert B. Schmunk (NASA/GSFC GISS). Jet-Propulsion Laboratory, NASA

Patrick Connors…

…had his first chapbook, Scarborough Songs, released by Lyricalmyrical Press in 2013, and charted on the Toronto Poetry Map. Other publication credits include Blue Collar Poetry, Rabble Review, and The People’s Voice. His first full collection, The Other Life, was released in 2021 by Mosaic Press. His new chapbook, Worth the Wait, will be released this Spring by Cactus Press.

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