We will be drilling, drilling, drilling
while you’re filling, filling, filling
your gas-guzzling juggernauts with discount fuel.
We will be grinning, grinning, grinning
while we’re winning, winning, winning
and we feel we are, god-like, ordained to rule.
We’ll keep on drilling, drilling, drilling
while you’re drowning, drowning, drowning
in your cars, swept away by the flash-floods.
And we’ll be fiddling, fiddling, fiddling
while we’re burning, burning, burning
and praying our prayers come up with the goods.
So keep on voting, voting, voting
while you’re floating, floating, floating
down the landslide, swept out to the tide.
And we’ll keep drilling, drilling, drilling
into all that oil we’re spilling
gold: some instinct animal’s inside.
“If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.”
– William Blake, Proverbs of Hell.
The good news: I believe that we, as a species, are well on our way to becoming wise!

The lunatics have taken over the Asylum
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Yup!
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A very powerful poem of social commentary. It needs to be set to music, so we can sing it as a protest song–long, loud, and often!!!
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I do like a good protest song, Liz! 💪 🎸 ❤️
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Here you go! https://youtu.be/nM39QUiAsoM
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Perfect! Thank you Liz :-)
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You’re welcome!
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Sadly very much a reflection of how people often behave. One failure of education is that we never really teach the values of delayed gratification so that we have a situation where the person offering the “instant” pleasure, or ‘solution’ is viewed as more popular than the one who offers planning over a longer period. The same goes for our health, we find it harder to alter our behaviour even if we know there could be long term damage, so we might drink, smoke, fail to exercise etc and ignore the long term risks.
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This is all true! Thank you for your comment.
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My apologies to the rest of the world for what my country is about to do to you.
From the land of the once free and home of the no longer brave.
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It’s not your fault, Lou, I am sure!
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Deep down-under the rippling effect of the careless corporate drilling, is flooding our sandcastles and beaches … I think I’ll need to find higher and drier ground … 🌏💛💚💜
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The same in Europe, Ivor – I think the effects of the climate crisis can be felt worldwide, already 😔
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Hopefully, we are becoming more worthy and wiser …
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We will eventually, if we don’t become extinct in the process!
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It’s a race against time, and we are running out of time …
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Oh, all so true (except the getting wiser part).
Ignorance ruled in the US elections.
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Maybe one day we’ll get wiser: we have to reach rock-bottom foolishness first!
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I suppose so, and hope we don’t blow up everything in the process.
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I’ve been drumming that song with the babies in tears,, well done💕
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Our deeply-divided US needs cooperation to solve our climate crisis. We don’t trust each other and have forgotten how to work together for the common good. Thank you, Ingrid, for your clever, timely, and hard-hitting poem.
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I hope you’re right Ingrid. I’m not so sure…(K)
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Wonderful poem Ingrid, I review poetry past and present on my own page.
I hope you don’t mind, but I did that for this poem. I’ve shared the link below. If you have any issues, I’ll immediately take it down.
Congrats, on your success to date, and I’m looking forward to seeing more great work from you.
You may find the link to the review here.
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What a wonderful and insightful review, thank you so much, Adam!
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Very thought provoking.
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Thank you Cassa :-)
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Wise or extinct?
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