Apex Predator Irony

Our attributes helped us excel

In ruling the world where we dwell;

But without these same traits,

We’d not seal our fates 

By blowing the whole place to hell.  

Homo Sapiens

This animal always has said:

“I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread!”

But now overshoot

Shows a dumb swinish brute

That’s very soon going to drop dead.  

The Food Pyramid

To live, we all must compete 

Against others we cannot not defeat;

As resources deplete,

Some will cheat with deceit

To have enough people to eat.

Impermanence

We evolved. and right from then on,

Bursting with promise and brawn,

We thought we were clever,

We’d live on forever—

But “poof!” just like that, we’ll be gone. 

Ugh

I can’t take much more of the hate

And knowing what’s coming: our fate,

The suffering, lying,

Everyone dying—

There’s not too much longer to wait.

The Indifference of Overshoot

By studying nature we learn 

Of a species’ normal concern;

Though unbearably sad,

It’s not ‘cause we’re bad,

But simply that now it’s our turn. 

Fate

Rational thought wasn’t wrong—

The reptilian brain was too strong;

We just couldn’t solve 

How to better evolve,  

And that’s why we’re saying “so long.”

Electric Vehicles

Cars of electric design 

Make vehicles seem more benign:

Fuel burns far away,

So people can say,

“We’re sure things will work out just fine.”

Human Nature

Burning carbon, we knew, meant good-bye,

But pleasure can cause folks to lie;

We chose to deny

And turned a blind eye,

So that’s why we’re all going to die.

The War to End All Wars

Our final big war’s up ahead

For ending the sorrows and dread:

Then we’ll all feel alright

And no one will fight

Because everyone’s going to be dead. 

What a Piece of Work Is a Man!

 What a piece of work is a man!….And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

    —Hamlet (Act II, Scene 2)

 

Determined, he does what he must,

But some acts are not much discussed:

He makes earth combust,

He cannot adjust, 

And then he turns back into dust. 

“Crisis,” as in “Climate Crisis”

A “crisis” is an event 

In which chances for changes present; 

But doom’s course, we know,

Was set long ago,

And the outcome is fixed in cement.  

Extinction Taboo

It looks like we made a boo-boo 

Which landed us deep in doo-doo; 

Though most folks pooh-pooh,

We’ll soon go boo-hoo,

But saying so still is taboo. 

It’s All Over

 

However dissatisfying,

It’s over, except for the crying;

Denying and lying 

Are less terrifying

Than knowing we’ll soon all be dying.  

 Brief History 

“In the beginning.…the earth was without form, and void….”   

— Genesis 1:1-2 (King James Version)

 

We humans will soon have destroyed

Our earth, which we often enjoyed;

The lives living here

Will all disappear,

Leaving earth again formless and void.

Hard Fact

 

We’re just players in life’s evolution 

Where extinctions perform execution;

Of the facts that are key,

The hardest might be

The fact that there is no solution.

 Overshoot and the Indifferent Universe 

Life may contain pleasant perks,

But death is still one of its quirks;

We’ve now overshot

And can’t change the plot—

That’s just how the universe works. 

 [The following collected verses were originally posted in other places.] 

ACCEPTANCE

 

There’s not too much longer to wait:

You and I, who’re accepting our fate,

Know it’s over—we’re through;

Let our talk then be true, 

For the hour is now getting late.

 

We’re running into a glitch,

So I hope to learn what I can ditch: 

Accept things I can’t change,

Those I can, rearrange, 

And the wisdom to know which is which.

 

If I were to guess where we went

When we go through our final descent:

Acceptance, full scope, 

With the loss of all hope 

Is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

 

It won’t matter, whatever you do,

But accepting that doom’s really true—

And there’s nowhere to flee

From the NTHE—

Will alter your whole point of view. 

 

Doom’s going be bad, m’kay?

But it’s natural growth and decay;

So relax and accept,

And try to get prepped,

‘Cause it’s not going to go away.

 

It's the end of the sapiens' age,  

So how will we disengage:

Recognizing the trend

And accepting the end,

Or stuck in the bargaining stage? 

 

If the climate change has evolved 

To a problem your mind wants resolved; 

Cognitive dissonance

Becomes less intense

By accepting it cannot be solved. 

 

Doom’s coming, what should I do?

Do the math, let it in, get a clue,

Get it into your head

We’ll all soon be dead,

Accept that it’s over—we’re through.

 

No future means we must deal

With so many things doom will reveal,

But NTHE 

Means you no longer flee 

Or fight with accepting what’s real.

 

Between different worlds we are swept

While we get mentally prepped;

This weird disconnect

Is what to expect

Cause extinction’s so hard to accept.

 

Fate’s something we can’t wish away:

Atoms bounce as they must and don’t stray;

We protest or accept

While we’re getting prepped,

But we don’t get to have any say.

 

Even if physically prepped,

And with skills at which one is adept,

The outlook’s so bleak,

It will make people freak,

So doom takes awhile to accept.

 

Brain neural pathways require

Certain stimuli to rewire;

Accept that chem preps

Have rate limiting steps,

And each one takes time to transpire.

 

Accept we’re material dust

In a world neither just nor unjust;

What happens each day

Can be no other way

Because molecules move as they must. 

 

Studying nature explains

The uselessness of our campaigns;

When no fix is left,

We’re completely bereft,

And only acceptance remains.

 

When we’ve conquered much of our fear,

And accepted the ending is near;

We’ve taken big steps, 

But aside from our preps,

Where do we go from here?

 

Kubler-Ross’s “Five Stages of Grief”

Provides framework that’s simple and brief;

As far as I see,

Acceptance will be

As good as it gets for relief. 

 

Most common, of course, is denial,

For anger, we all can see bile; 

A bargaining style,

Some depression awhile,

And acceptance completes our trial.

 

You know preps will prove ineffective,

And also, that lots of invective

Will be coming your way

If you choose to display

A post-acceptance perspective.

 

In our world of limits, we rue

Things we did and what we didn’t do;

We'll feel better prepped

The more we accept

The limits inside of us too.

 

Where to be, is where you accept 

That for saving ourselves we’re inept; 

As to what you should be,

Many here will agree

That by now you should be largely prepped.

 

The view of what’s coming’s less blurry,

So we cut down on hurry and scurry;

Having looked at our fear,

Acceptance draws near—

And with it, a time of less worry.

 

A progress evaluation 

Might reflect some good adaptation; 

In making that link,

I’d much rather think

It’s acceptance, and not resignation. 

 

We learned a lot during our climb,

Since first we crawled out of the slime;

Now it seems, reader friend,

That accepting our end

Is the main lesson for our time.

 

Because we’re no smarter than yeast,

It turns out we’ll soon be deceased;

Being old makes one prepped

To more promptly accept:

Any day now, we shall be released.

 

I’m working real hard to create

A way of accepting our fate;

Pursuing that stuff

Prob’ly won’t help enough,

But it’s something to do while we wait.

 

I sit on this runaway train

Watching the passing terrain;

There’s not much I can do

But accept doom is true,

And wait for the end of the pain. 

 

Writing is mostly my way

Of coming to terms with dismay,

So the more I accept

And get mentally prepped,

The less, it seems, I’ve got to say. 

 

In the course of becoming awake, 

We find things we cannot remake; 

Accept, from the trend, 

That the world’s going to end,

And the rest’s just a mere piece of cake. 

 

Acceptance allows us to strike

Discomfort from out of our psych;

It’s easy to do

For me and for you—

Except for the things we don’t like. 

 

Here’s a truth which we can’t disavow: 

In the end, life is no cat’s meow;

It’s getting quite late

For accepting our fate—

Let me know if you figure out how.

 Memento Mori

The horror of doom’s going to grow

To unbearable torture, I know;

Now I’m comfortably numb, 

But that time’s going to come—

The time when it comes time to go.

 Meaninglessness 

Is that “life has no meaning” your view

(Except what you came to pursue 

Based, your life through,

On what influenced you)?

If that’s what you think—well, it’s true!