Making Wun Ugly Scene
Making wun ugly scene
in da Anthropocene
dats wat humanity stay doing.
Dere’s wun old saying
and I wen soften its crude word—
Don’t crap where you sleep.
Dat advice seems to be so appropriate.
Industrious Homo sapiens
wit dere inventive intelligence
wen change da planet
cause now da results and repercussions
dat come wit it
stay accelerating into ovahdrive.
It’s just like keeping saltwatah fish
in wun aquarium witout wun filter.
See how long dat going last
until all da colorful creatures
are eventually poisoned by dere own urine.
So da ocean level is rising
and da acidity is too.
It’s time to realize how dat wen happen.
You no can blame da guys in da past
dat wen start everyting
by harnessing da earth’s resources
and developing fossil fuels.
Dey nevah see all da complications
dat wuz coming.
It’s da modern guys
dat are doing da same damn ting
wen science is now telling dem
dat continuance is extremely dangerous
dat you really gaddah worry about.
Keep clouding up da crystal globe
wit thick black smoke
and we not going be able to foresee
and correct anyting.
Sounds like craziness to me
as da powers dat be
use da same game plan
ovah and ovah again
making wun ugly scene
in da Anthropocene.
Joe Balaz writes in Hawaiian Islands Pidgin (Hawai'i Creole English). He is the author of Pidgin Eye, a collection of poetry. The book was featured by NBC News for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2019. Balaz presently lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Joe recommends Shriners Hospitals for Children — Honolulu.