The autumn light in town is hard,
Like hammered steel it glints
splintering into laser beams off cars,
highlighting the flatness of life
these days,
these Anthropocene days.
For reasons too numerous to mention
I drive most days now
guzzling gas, adding to the pollution.
Pumping carbon into the atmosphere
my life becomes a farce of itself.
My conscience twists and turns
unable to justify my own actions
but caught,
oh so caught
these days,
these Anthropocene days.
Out of town on country roads
the light glimmers, stretches,
an autumn haze blurs distances
and I long to be free to drive,
somewhere, anywhere away from
these days,
these Anthropocene days.
Most days when I’m driving,
thinking these thoughts,
feeling this ecological grief,
I see eagles
wheeling high above the sun bleached land,
and the roads that just go on and on
but never arrive anywhere I want to be
these days,
these Anthropocene days.
Certainties dismantling
all we once held as true unravelling
these days
these Anthropocene days
yet still the eagle soars.
I hear its message on the wind.
See the big picture.
there’s always somewhere new to go,
somewhere higher,
somewhere lighter.
prompt: https://newwhatsgoingon.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-coming-of-light.html
Wayfaring 
Suzanne, I resonate with every line of this poem, and love the repeated line “these days, these Anthropocene days.” We are caught on life as we are accustomed to it, yet knowing what we know. Feeling rather hopeless at the little steps we can take, while corporate greed lays waste to the planet and governments allow it. Sigh. A beautifully written poem of truths we need to contemplate. Thought provoking and so real.
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Thanks very much Sherry. These are very thought provoking times.
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Certainties dismantling
all we once held as true unravelling
these days
these Anthropocene days – love this …and the repetition works so well…
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Thanks Rajani. It seems to be all repetition these days. 😦
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Suzanne, this was a stunning poem. I was right with you, longing to drive somewhere other than here. This poem has such a lot of depth, a melancholy commentary on the path we are on, with all we held true unraveling. But yet there is a bit of hope — the eagle still soars! I enjoyed this poem very much.
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Thank you Mary. I’m glad my poem struck true with you even if it is an uneasy truth.
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“and the roads that just go on and on
but never arrive anywhere I want to be”
O, to drive away from it all–or better yet, soar like the eagle–higher, lighter, freer from harm and harming.
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Wouldn’t it be great to just fly away 🙂
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Above, the anonymous is me, Susan.
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Suzanne, perhaps the damage inflicted by the human race upon this world, is gradually being revealed in the less than perfect light and the polluted air quality. Industrialisation, smog and the smell of carbons….not really a perfect kind of light…
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Above comment left by Eileen T O’Neill, eileenoneill@ntlworld.com
mypoeticparlance.blogspot.com
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I totally agree with you. We are seeing the consequences of our collective actions at present.
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There is a great restlessness in the world that your meditations catch perfectly. It’s not the calm before the storm, because there’s no calm, but something is impending. (K)
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That is a very intuitive observation Kerfe. There is a very strange energy in people at present. An uneasy feeling that defines definition.
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Love the lines – the roads that just go on and on but never arrive anywhere I want to be- This really works in this poem – really well written and it makes your heart soar .
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Thanks so much Alan.
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