Bipolar Gaia – a poem for Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, here’s a poem I wrote a couple of years ago. Yes, I know it’s no longer February, and Gaia’s in a better mood, today at any rate, but the theme feels more relevant than ever. Enjoy, and Happy Earth Day!

Bipolar Gaia

Gaia’s gone bipolar. Finally flipped,

now that it’s February.

Oh yes, I know

she’s always had her moods,

but now she’s rapid-cycling.

Call the cosmic shrinks,

prescribe some medication STAT

to calm her down, and level out

the peaks and valleys.

Just yesterday, snow spewed

from man-made guns at Jiminy Peak,

while Gaia played her part superbly,

gifting the hills with picture-perfect flakes

of powdered sugar. Skiing through the gentle storm,

my goggles frosted over as the slopes turned gray

in winter’s cold flat light.

An hour ago I trampled through my garden,

soaking up sun at sixty-some degrees.

My boots sucked mud. I searched in vain

for vagrant spears of crocus, daffodils,

but nature clings to sanity

in some respects. The shoots stay hidden

safely underground, obeying

the sun’s celestial calendar.

Now clouds obscure the sun,

and my computer e-mails me an automatic warning

of gale-force, frigid winds.

This strangely rapid cycling leaves me wondering.

Has mankind made her mad? Is earth abused, a victim?

Is this her final freakout? First hurricanes, tsunamis,

now this weird bipolar winter

that jerks my mood around.

She can’t be hospitalized against her will. I guess

we’ll have to watch and wait.