One of My Favorite Childhood National Parks
In the Wilds of Montana, on the Border with Canada
Known to Native Americans as ‘The Shining Mountains’
Its Wondrous, 10,000 Year Old Glaciers, Filled Me with Awe
“My earlier research projected
That as global warming hit its stride,
These glaciers would all be gone by 2030.
Now, I believe they may be gone as soon as 2020.”
Daniel Fagre,
U.S. Geological Survey
Where have all the glaciers gone
They were all there, in my youth
But in the last fifty some years
Over one hundred, we did lose
I sit here now recalling when I first saw
The grandeur, of Glacier National Park
I was young, and nature was wondrous
They were all sparkling white, not dark
“One Hundred and Fifty Glaciers are Here!”
I recall the Park Ranger explaining to me
I remember gazing at them, in sheer awe
One of my most vivid childhood memories
Today, I sit here reading a very sad article
Proclaiming there are only twenty-five left
Where have all those glorious glaciers gone
To me, one of the world’s most tragic thefts
Yet, so many today, in denial of Global Warming
Still refusing to believe, that it may be our own fault
I find little solace today, in my childhood memories
But I’ll keep them tucked away, in my memory vault
Where have all the glaciers gone,
They were all there, in my youth;
But in the last fifty some years,
Over one hundred, we did lose.
Ten-Thousand Year Old Glaciers,
Melting Away, In Just Over Fifty;
Our Planet Is Very Sadly Changing,
This Seems Painfully Obvious, to Me.
The glory of Earth’s God-given wonders, is vanishing,
I’m extremely grateful I got to see glaciers in my years;
To me, the changes that are now occurring, are dreadful,
And, for glacier-deprived future generations, I shed a tear.
©The Hellishly Hot Summer of 2011, Mr. Ed
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Joy L. Hale
game with our hands...when we created a church,
and then said "Where have all the people gone?"
Lady Vivian
And I always learn something reading your poetry!
Blessings,
Christine
more in memory than in reality for most natural
things are passing and shall not return..
and sooner than we think or want to admit
we'll see only in memory.
John
fee
cheers,
dan
Thanks for your comments. I believe what I've seen with my own two eyes on my numerous treks across North America from coast to coast, from north to south, over the last 50 some years. I see milder winters, hotter summers, cold weather animals dying off or heading to higher ground, birds migrating earlier and earlier, worse and worse storms and droughts and floods, and both glaciers and icebergs melting way too fast, even way up in Alaska.
Based on what I see, I truly believe our world is now changing, for the worst.
Sadly enjoyable read, Ed. Thanks Dick
Anna