There's talk.  There are books
Films and discussions about the environment.
Schools and organizations try to teach conservation.
But does it matter?
Are we observing the effects
on  a lackadaisical, benign society?
Polar icecaps are melting
Lakes and river keep swelling,
Overflowing,
ruining homes, businesses and communities.
Polluted water make some fish inedible
Mutant creatures are hauled
In nets of fishermen.
Are we consciously aware?
Greedy diamond dealers
Using enslaved workers
To dig deeper and deeper
Into the earth's crust
Because of our covetousness.
Our rainforests are filled with undiscovered plants
birds and  animal species
capable of fighting or curing disease.
But are we preserving them?
Wild animals are encroaching on humans
because of lost food supplies and habitats.
Some are becoming extinct
Due to over-harvesting
For their horns, fur and skins.
Farmers injecting growth hormones and fillers
Into our poultry, fruit and vegetables
Shelf life's increasing, but nutrients decreasing.
Is it really worthwhile?
Farmland laying bare
No rotation of crops and drought
Driving small farmers out.
Mac mansions being built
Homelessness rampant in towns and suburbs
High unemployment because jobs are exported
To cheaper wage earners in third-world countries.
What are we left with?
Poor quality, substandard medicines and machinery.
It's harder and harder to find "Made in America"
on products that can be made here by qualified workers.
Standards of education dropping in this nation
While Europe and Asia continues to flourish
What of our teachers and of our leaders?
Summers are hotter. Winters colder
The ozone layers depleted, the world's overheating
Are we conscious of what we are leaving
For our sons and our daughters?
How can we salvage this beckoning catastrophe?