NEWS FROM THE SHUTTLE
the earth is dying
we can see this from the spacecraft
deforestation
swirl of debris
and where there should be blue
is grey haze
white electric non-light
humans we can’t see are masked
inhale the noise of calloused want
we cannot make it through the outer layer
we report
the earth is less a home
than somewhere else
___________________________________________________
SLICK
It's the day past ground hog's
day when the sun
in a rare mid-winter passion
stretched itself to six o'clock
cut through the clouds
and overtook the trees.
I visited the beach today
for the rush and pull
of an old familiar friend
to walk among the weathered
gulls along the winding shore
but the sea was black
and all the sea gulls dead
_________________________________________
THREE BITS
1. Chickens
the twister took
them up then hundreds
tumbled
down
naked every feather
ripped out
in the wind
it was raining
plucked chickens
2. Canada Geese
they flew
through a cloudless sky
into the clear green glass
of a massive building
those struck senseless
came to
after landing
shook
themselves back up
and with a quiet flutter flew
off
others
with shattered skulls
and broken necks
became
dinner
3. Rabbits
This one still hurts.
They were to test the effects
of toxic bleach
the eyelids of the rabbits
stitched open.
Copyright ©2012 by Pat Falk. All rights, including electronic, reserved by the author.
eco-poems by
Pat falk: News from the shuttle ; Slick ; three bits
Pat Falk is a professor of English at Nassau CommunityCollege in Garden City, New York. She is the author of five collections of poetry and essays, including the most recent Crazy Jane. It Happens As We Speak: A Feminist Poetics 2006, Sightings: Poems on Discovery,1999, and In the Shape of a Woman, 1995, are three others of her books. Her work has appeared in several literary journals including The New York Times Book Review, Third Wednesday, and Women Artists News. She has given many readings and led several workshops in and around the NY Metropolitan area. Visit her website at www.patfalk.net.