Typewriter Rodeo: Climate Change

Each week, the Standard reaches out to Austin’s Typewriter Rodeo for a custom poem on Texas topics.

By Sean PetrieSeptember 17, 2021 10:07 am,

The visible evidence of climate change and the studies about its dire long-term impacts can be overwhelming. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Climate Change

I get it —
It’s overwhelming
Floods then drought then fires then
All the above
Plus crippling ice storms
(Remember those?)

And I’d like to pretend, too
That it’s not happening —
“It’s cold out today,
What global warming, haha”
The same way the world looks flat
From just my front yard

But the bigger picture
Is more difficult, yes,
But also harder and harder
To ignore

I get it
I’d like to pretend, too
That it will all just go away
But I’m not sure pretending
From my front yard
Is any longer
An option

So perhaps,
Like a neighbor after a flood
We can start helping each other out
A bit more
Before.

a photo of the typewritten poem

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