Meltdown #1: Social Tipping Point
It’s ANZAC Day and time to reflect
Generations lost, wilful neglect
We thank God our sons
Weren’t in WW1
Abhorrent wars, lest we forget
Mateship means vulnerability and trust
Endurance and courage in battle, a must
Selfless sacrifice
Such tragic loss of life
From Gallipoli to Kokoda our bullets rust
Let’s not squander our hard-fought liberty
Our diggers gave all for us to be free
But from foreign shores
To climate wars
And a fight against carbon toxicity
How much more squabbling before we act
How much more climate denial of facts
It’s their coal addiction
Misguided conviction
Gotta dump their devious dash for gas
We’ve survived the longest pandemic lockdown
We must now address this ecological breakdown
But they’ve no climate policy
Just daft ideology
The time has come for a political showdown
With the climate fanned fires still in our lungs
People no longer can hold our tongues
With Biden in the joint
It’s the tipping point
A breath of fresh air to get things done
Australia’s being dragged kicking and screaming
They say wait for technology, you’ve gotta be dreaming
This climate emergency
Is our job opportunity
Last chance to act, or our planet will be steaming
While it’s a buoyant market for our iron ore
Export prices never seen before
In a trade embargo
Except for these cargoes
Let’s hope not made into weapons of war
Nowhere in the world would we rather be
Than Australia or NZ, nearly COVID free
But vaccination’s
Still at stagnation
Lacking supply, confidence and efficacy
The MCG packed a record ANZAC Day crowd
Such gatherings elsewhere in the world not allowed
While Japan’s cases worsen
Olympic Games uncertain
And India’s COVID crisis is under a cloud
It’s the tipping point for climate and human equality
Women’s rights and conscience for ethnic minorities
But no real reprieve
While we still can’t breathe
Need our planet to cool and a more equal society
If our climate ecosystem isn’t mended
There’ll be climate refugees and countries dismembered
We’re the last generation
That can stop annihilation
Young people will decide just how we’re remembered
While we whistle in the dark at the writing on the wall
The next generations will look to us and call
In absolute horror
With our planet in squalor
What the hell were we thinking….destroying it all
Kevin Holmes • 25th April 2021
