High Noon, Parts 1–4 (Day 415)

I.

It's like pointing 

to a burning building 

and yelling “Snow!”

An emergency 

of cheap vodka 

and small sterile men

of vocal fry 

and more than 8,000 

California sea lions 

residing on Sri Lanka’s 

southernmost shore. 

II.

Some talk about 

policy, about the need 

for studies of studies 

and committees 

to study the studies.

Others (predictably)

will blame 

the hordes 

of unconverted, 

whose mere longing 

sullies the very idea 

of heaven.

III.

Nature’s death 

threats heartily ignored,

we, the unwilling, 

find ourselves 

watching 

the world burn 

down, which is, after all,

easier and more 

entertaining

than taking action 

to offset our ignorance.

IV.

Less painful, too, 

than acknowledging 

no planetary fire 

escape exists, no 

grand galaxial 

firefighters coming 

to rescue us,

to quell the flames 

lapping at our hearts

and our bare toes, 

as we stand 

on the shore, waving 

goodbye to 

yet another day.

(c) 2018, by Hannah Six

Image: Moss covered lava field, Grindavik, Iceland, Chris Ford/Flickr