Poeta Doctus

The two or three poems inspired yesterday by a Guardian interview with social scientist Mayer Hillman (see the two previous posts), also prompted one reader to comment on the poems, two of which use Mayer’s own words expressing the sentiment that, given civilization is doomed, we’d be better to attend other, more pleasant matters, such as music, love, education, and happiness.

The comment inadvertently touched on the issue of the truth of poetry and the poet’s relation to the thoughts expressed by the words of the poem, that yesterday’s three, impromptu poems might suggest some agreement with Hillman’s gloom and prescriptions.

Five years back mulling over the same matter I composed an ironic indictment, which, after some little fiddling this morning, turned out, spontaneously, to be the fourteen-line poem that follows. Whether it provides any clarification as to my own stance on the issue, I leave to the reader.

Chance Sonnet: 

“BE IT RESOLVED…”

BE IT RESOLVED that

whereas public officials

who deny the reality

of Anthropogenic Climate Change

and hinder efforts to mitigate

its destructive effects present

a clear and present danger

to themselves and others,

said public officials should be

removed from office forthwith

and placed under a physician’s care

until such time as their suicidal

and/or homocidal and/or ecocidal

tendencies cease to present.