Peak Population?

It's last dance for every civilian

At The Party's Over Cotillion;

While peak population

Awaits confirmation,

At least we reached seven billion.

Trees

I’m thinking that I’ll never see

A poem as nice as a tree,

But looking ahead,

Pretty soon they’ll be dead—

Come to think of it, so will we.

Go to the Ant, Consider Her Ways

Go to the ant, consider her ways

(She’s a template for hard work cliches),

One misplaced large foot:

Tiny squish, she’s kaput;

No reward at the end of her days.

Both heaven and karma declare:

Just be good, and you’ll end your despair;

But without such disguise

From your own lying eyes

You can clearly see life isn’t fair.

So what, you may ask, is the reason

For this psychological lesion?

Most likely some widget

(Like opposable digit),

In this case, for social cohesion.

Climate Change

Climate change has evolved

To a problem your mind wants resolved;

Cognitive dissonance
Becomes less intense

By accepting it cannot be solved.

If the World Were Ending Tomorrow

I’d call a few folks on the phone

To talk about old times we’ve known;

If our last day were here

There’d be nothing to fear,

So I’d say things I used to postpone.

Paradigm Shift

A paradigm shift’s underway

As optimism turns to dismay;

The past used to be worst,

Now the order’s reversed:

Tomorrow will be worse than today.

Hierarchy Is Here to Stay

Hierarchy is here to stay,

It’s evolved law we can't disobey;

If we want to egress

Somehow out of this mess

We must change things in some other way.

Peak Euro

The news from our Europe-based bureau

Is painted chiaroscuro;

Look away from the light

Where predictions are bright—

Voila! You can make out Peak Euro.

Hope

When life becomes fully infernal,

It makes sense to close up the jounal;

Problem solved, but alas

(And this chaps my ass):

The way we’re built, hope springs eternal.

Why Read This?

We should be all filled up with gloom

Because of our problems which loom;

Since we’re thus ensnared,

We can get more prepared

By learning some more about doom.

Ecclesiastes

(Ecclesiastes 1:2; 3:1-2; 4:2-3; 9-11)

The suffering throughout humanity
Is meaningless, senseless insanity;
As the Preacher teaches
In useful speeches:
Vanity, all is vanity.

We try very hard to deny
That Nature’s laws always apply;
For each species’ season,
By faith or by reason,
There’s a time to be born — and to die.

A good way for guaranteeing
That misery’s not what you’re fleeing,
The old prophets forewarn,
Is to never be born
And avoid coming into being.

We race, but know not when we’ll fall
Or who’ll end up hitting a wall
We seldom are right
To claim second sight
For time and chance happen to all.

The Abyss

I knew there was something amiss,
So I looked into the abyss;
Looked full in the maw,
Didn’t like what I saw
And returned to avoidance bliss.

The truth of my limericks is this:
While it helps an old man reminisce,
It’s just being civil
With meaningless drivel
To help me avoid the abyss.

The abyss, where one must be sincere,
Is a place to stare through the veneer;
But the way it stared back,
So like an attack,
Was too much, so I came back to here.

I went back to see the abyss
Still hoping to find me some bliss;
Its stare had me beat,
I had to retreat
And write wretched drivel like this.

Peak Oil Is Godzilla

(Questioning the seriousness of doom in a peak oil forum usually stimulates a predictable response, sometimes in the form of humorous ridicule and silliness. When somebody wrote “Peak Oil does not mean Godzilla will come to your city,” the piling on included these verses and a plastic Godzilla puppet. The entire original thread is at: http://www.theoilage.com/tinfoil-t1725.html .)

As a slightly smarter gorilla,
Caught twixt Charybdis and Scylla,
We have limited clout;
Again nature points out
The folly of men. Godzilla!

I’m Peak Oil, I’m comin to getcha,
You’ll change your tune soon, you betcha;
Watch my tail coil!
Peak Oil! Peak Oil!
Your life’ll change after I’ve metcha.

I’m P.O. Godzilla! Recoil!
My breath can make any meat broil;
Prepare your obit,
I don’t give a shit—
Now hear me: Peak Oil! Peak Oil!

Hello! I’m P.O. Godzilla!
Much scarier than Attila;
My breath creates heat,
But wait till you meet
A.G.W. Godzilla!

P.O. Godzilla’s my name,
If you think you’re upset that I came,
The next to trouble you
Is A.G.W.
Godzilla, who puts me to shame.