You’ll Flame on Without Us Though We Couldn’t Survive on Earth Without You

GiaB writing prompt #2–6 the sun

Ne’er too far Yet not so close that Her warmth harms

She brings brightness A heavenly spark Heralding lightness after dark

On grey days she clears the haze Blazes in cerulean blue Lifts our mood

But now she flares in Flaming rages At what stage is ‘too hot’?

It’s not her fault The parched crust cracks She had our backs

Absurd to think we’d conquer Earth We broke the rules Used the wrong tools

How could humans Blame her radiant heart Upstarts!

Tempers rise, no reprise From searing heat, floods, and drought Our impotence brought this about

It’s not too late We must change course Ride the climate justice horse

We know what must be done Harness the power of The Sun

Backstory

The second week of rolling power blackouts in South Africa and the ongoing COPout26 in Glasgow inspired my theme for this poem.

Disruptions to one’s daily life demand patience, tolerance, and acceptance of reality. The national power utility, Eskom, is a shadow of its former self. South Africa’s coal-fired power plants are 40+ years old and creaking under the strain of poor maintenance, corruption during the Zuma years, higher demand and breakdowns exacerbated by load-shedding.

Our Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy loves fossil fuels — he’s a fossilized fool.

At the start of the Africa Energy Week conference in Cape Town on Tuesday, he called for African solidarity against the push for renewables.

This was his reaction to the $8.5-billion deal struck at COP26 to help South Africa with its green transition:

“We must position Africa Oil and Gas at the forefront of global energy growth.”

Why doesn’t our President fire him?

Because anything connected with the ANC (Another Night with Candles) is dysfunctional.

Thank you to Victor Sarkin for providing the opportunity to vent!

Roll on summer!