The Great Divide

Excessive burning of fossil fuels, coal, gas and oil,
green house gases blanketing our world. 

Entire forests, the lungs of our earth,
being cut down and burned. 
Rising sea levels, wild fires, barren soil, 
extreme weather adding to the turmoil. 

Animals of all species struggling to adapt 
to these rapidly changing conditions, 
wild fires, melting glaciers or dry lakes,
forcing them into extinction. 

Entire peoples with no resources 
are forced out of their land,
their lives shattered, seeking refuge, 
fleeing flooding, fleeing drought. 

Getting as far as neighboring nations, 
not much better than their own, 
devastated with such scarcity, 
quickly losing hope. 

The rich have raised their land
retrofitted, erected walls, 
the water, having no where else to go, 
ends up with the poor. 

We import food, which we then waste, 
our luxurious lives take a toll,
with no regard to those displaced, 
we lounge care-free in air conditioned homes. 

Impoverished nations are suffering today, 
and the rich will suffer tomorrow. 
Will we take action then, change our ways? 
Will it be too late?

By: Gloria E. Lopez