Invent a cardiac device.
A GPS of the heart.
You can program hate
or love. Memory pleasures
or pains. A special button
for revenge. Here you can
make room for war.
Animal slaughter.
The deaths of children.
Punch in 1-2-3
for nuclear countdowns.
Glacier melt. When
the orbit fails.
If you want to go
for ice cream, that
can be arranged.
Hi John,
To my thinking, this poem is without fault but remains assailable. It is better than anything I’ve seen recently in the ecological and political realm excluding some rap lyrics that project an overwhelming urgency and anger. Should you leave it alone? Maybe. Listen to Gil Scott Heron’s “The Revolution will not be Televised.” He’s using the same device of linking pressing issues to
the remove created by isolation via technology. He has an advantage in that he does not limit himself to a predetermined word or line count which allows him to blast the listener’s defenses (this is a plus in eco/political poems because while everyone agrees with you, few will take the next step and act) He brings in percussion instruments to underscore his message. He employs a hook by repeating the title line. But, all of this will not help you improve this already faultless poem. It will, possibly suggest an approach to your NEXT eco-political poem and when you discover that, you can let me know too!