The moment the door opens
I hear the sizzle sound of summer
Unseen cicadas seeking sex
Rising in pitch with the heat of the day
On our walk we pass a young child
Asking what is that noise I hear
The same question I asked long ago
But summer is not the same now
The heat waves are hotter and longer
The ozone and particulates and wildfire smoke
Make the air unhealthy to breathe
And flash floods punctuate the droughts
Humans have adapted to tropical heat
And arctic subzero existence
So the extreme weather events of today
Will not of themselves do us in
But if you work outside as I did
You know what it’s like
Or if you don’t have air conditioning
It can be literally life threatening
It doesn’t have to be this way
If sustainability mattered most
But the capitalists aren’t giving up fossil fuel profits
And everyone knows where it's going
Even those who deny why
As conditions keep getting worse
You're on your own in survival mode
Until people and the planet come first
