Monday, October 31, 2011

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.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

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.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

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.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Climate Change

Climate change has evolved
To a problem your mind wants resolved;
Cognitive dissonance
Becomes less intense
By accepting it cannot be solved.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

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.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

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.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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.

Monday, October 24, 2011

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.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

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.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

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.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

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.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

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.