Born midcentury moderns

to households of name-brand products

and people believing in chemicals

turned into Tupperware and plastic toys,

we sucked up oil through pipe straws

with pumps running day and night.

On TV, ads promised everything

except the truth about pollution.

Later, there was Silent Spring,

Earth Day, organic gardeners, talk

of oil independence…

We were too addicted to listen,

as insidious damage accelerated.

Now aging grandparents and friends,

we meet our foolish past as we see the future

in the eyes of babies who will face crises

of Biblical proportions. Already,

the hottest summer on record.

Seas salting the Earth.

Ice falling into seas.

Droughts. Floods. Fires. Storms.

Cancer. Climate Change. War.

How do we save them?

And where are the prophets

who promulgated petroleum

because the best things in life

come in cellophane?

Anne McCrady

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