I cried when I first saw the Sunrise Powerlink’s steel structures begin to scar our beautiful San Diego back country. What better way to assauge grief than to write in my journal? This is the poem that came out of those writings. I’m honored to have it recently published by Pudding Magazine in Open Earth II Eco Poems. I hope you will find it thought-provoking.
Ecocide San Diego
And now all of a sudden
they appear like something
out of a Mad Max movie,
stealing pastoral views.
These monstrosities
march along hillsides,
dip down and through
St. Vicente’s Reservoir,
zig-zag all the way to
California’s coast with
connecting wires longer
than any crazy zipline.
Black tar ribbons widen to
allow pollution-spewing
vehicles to speed ever faster.
Golden poppied meadows
gouged to make way for tile
roofed tract houses. Developer
fees promise tiny pocket parks.
Dairy farms, horse trails,
the San Diego River
suffocated by shopping
malls, hotels, a stadium.
And people wonder at
floods that come with
every rampant rainstorm.
It is nice to see this in print. I’ve heard it, but I had not read it. It’s great.
Rebecca, Thanks for your support, as always.
You have done it again. Beautiful words about a heart breaking situation. Why didn’t this nightmare go underground.?
Dottie, We keep asking ourselves that too!
Powerful images convey single important message. What poetry is all about. Thanks Jill.
And how! Thank you, Tom.
Thank you for sharing your poem. I too feel your pain. So many do not understand that as companies scrape up the desert to make way for industrial-sized wind turbines and solar panels it also means that hundreds and hundreds of miles of these monstrous structures will need to added to our landscape – to bring the power from the desert to the city. That’s why I support roof-top solar on already existing buildings in the city where we need the energy – we have plenty of roofs to take care of our needs! Let’s leave what land we have left to pastures and wildlife…
I agree! Yay, rooftop solar panels in the city.
love the illustration with the beautiful photos contrasting the steel and the flowers…
Wonderful words Jill to mark a sad blight on out landscape. 😢
Wonderful. We all feel this pain with every bulldozer.
Thank you for sharing this, Jill! It is so painful to witness what is happening to the Earth. fortunately through the arts you can express your grief. What a gift!
You too, Joseph
Congrats on having this published Jill. I feel your “feels”. Through your poetry, the earth speaks.
Nice Jill!!
Wonderful Jill.
Beautifully written but so sadly true! Thank you for sharing.
Oh Jill, you captured something near to my heart. There is hope in your message. An awakening brings an opportunity for making changes on a personal level which lead to greater change. For our river, for nature and for humanity.
Rob, That’s beautifully said. Thank you.