Climate Contrast

Smiles and friendly people everywhere

brilliant and powerful young articulate speeches

much cheering and chanting…

even loud applause from 5,000

when a young lass

finally got her tongue round a long word in her speech

-       at the third attempt!

Not ONE solitary member of government

dared to show their face

or offer any comment

A tacit admission of their abject failure, so-far

 and lack of any plan for the future

Then all 5,000 of us walked from Parliament house

to Victoria square

led by the youngest, which was charming in itself

oldest at the back

all organised brilliantly by the students themselves

music laughter chanting shouting and fun everywhere

But

all that against the darkest hidden backdrop

of the UN last week

publishing that the Arctic is melting fast

and soon all the ice there will be melted

and the tundra around melting giving off its CO2 and methane

we have only a decade left to stop the burning

and keep those fuels in the ground to avoid runaway

a few years, to gain control of the far right

and the corporate giants…

-       and act to keep our planet as it is