John Powell Ward
Hurry Up Please, It's Time
They saved the rain in butts; took pulp and jars
To the new recycling plant; they halved
Their electricity and bore the single bulb
Of a furtive lamp; they adapted the car
To clean-fuel specification. They grew carrots
And turned the Sunday papers into compost.
They walked or bicycled instead of drove;
They put on heavy sweaters and thick
Socks, and thus cut down their central heating.
They considered the lilies, how they grow,
And read their secondhand books, still wondering
If even Solomon’s wisdom could suffice
To save the human venture that began
In Eden; its art, its buildings and its law.
But I can’t tell you how this all worked out;
Its hour had not yet come; only
The unaborted children who survive
Will know of that, staring at their hands
Like monkeys, asking what to do next.
Page(s) 39
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