Member-only story
Waking in the Night
Feb 14, 2023
20. 25 August 2021
I wake in the night, 3.30 am.
Outside the gulls are starting to mew;
The sky is beginning to pinken at the edges.
I’m worrying about whales.
*
I wake in the night, 4.30 am.
Sun’s on its way, it’s a beautiful day.
I’m worrying about swallows.
*
Night after night, I awake full of fear
Because we’re killing the Earth.
Day after day, I wonder what I can do
While China and Russia and India burn coal,
The UK and America burn oil and gas,
Brazil burns the Amazon.
*
What is a butterfly worth
To greedy politicians and predatory corporations?
To hungry people, fighting to feed their kids?
*
What is a sparrow, a starfish
A humpbacked whale
Worth?
