As we see Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk blasting the rich and famous into space, I find these actions hard to justify. Maybe they will contribute to the good of the world in time to come. But now, with the world in crisis, I can’t help thinking that these expensive egoistic vanity projects could be put on hold; and their respective fortunes used for the more urgent priorities of sorting out some of our world’s problems.
That said, here is my take on space travel! A poem I wrote in the nineties
FALLING November 1993
Today I fell out of the world
Into the sky
Caught on to a cloud
Drifting by
There I was
Above the cosmos
My only way back
Was to learn how to fly
Should I just let go
Plummet into the stars
Risk a crash landing on Mars
I could paraglide past the planets
Circle with Saturn’s rings
Float past super nova
Dodge meteor showers
Fall for hours
And as the millennia passed
The time would come for me
To return; and fast
Complete the fall
Descend to Earth
At last
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A little bit of whimsey there, to lighten the mood; and the dawning realization of the critical state we have let our planet get to, before trying to sort it all out; climate change, pollution and gross inequality.
The following is a poem I wrote in May last year. Friends and relatives may recognize it. With the COP summit in Glasgow looming, I think it’s due another showing.
COVID HOPE (with acknowledgements to John Betjeman and ‘Slough’)
Come friendly Covid, show us how
To heal our precious planet now
Give us this chance; we’ll take a vow
To make a pact
Now nature’s had a welcome break
From the pollution humans make
There is a window we must take
We have to act
The smog has lifted from our skies
For many a unique surprise
And now we see with open eyes
A world near lost
We’ve nearly killed most living things
In deepest seas, and high on wings
Our intervention always brings
A heavy cost
Come friendly Covid strife respite
So obvious conflict’s not right
So many lost in bitter fight
And pointless wars
We’ve squandered natures many gifts
On perpetrating endless rifts
But now, as realization hits
It’s time to pause
This beauteous place where we reside
That we should guard with all our pride
It’s now the time we must decide
To heal and save
Humanity still has the power
To leave our useless ivory tower
And show that we can seize the hour
Before our grave
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I really like ” Come friendly Covid”, with a nod to the super ironic Betjeman poem, inviting the nuclear obliteration of Slough. You should send this to the Western Telegraph. They might publish it, then you could share printspace with Badger! You could call yourself Fox , or Mole.
Thanks for that Ann; but it should be the Pembrokeshire Herald, don’t you think? And perhaps a vole; which are eating all our burgeoning brussels sprouts!
“Now nature’s had a welcome break”
Interesting how apparently that break has had almost no effect on the global warming situation, even with such a drastic change. At least, that’s what I heard on my radio the other day.
Just goes to show we’re going to need systemic change to get out of this mess and it all comes down to money, in the end. Until the people of this planet realise we cannot sustain endlessly increasing rates of economic growth, we will not be in a position to make the changes necessary.
We need to stop salivating over the latest and greatest gadgets or shiny brand new cars and recognise our consumer-led lifestyle has had it’s day.
If we don’t curtail our little luxuries soon we’ll be forced to abandon luxury all together!