Poem: Smoke

March 4, 1998
Issue 
308

Smoke

Smoke
Covering thousands of square miles
Choking millions of people.
The government blames the peasants
Then they blame the timber merchants
Then they blame the weather
Meanwhile
The lungs of the planet
are polluted
By governments and loggers
By greed and indifference
By corporate corruption
And the state prepares
To savage any protests.
People
Devout, trusting God
Pray fervently for a miracle.
Others beseech their leaders
For relief from the man-made blight
A few, a precious few
Point the finger
Tell the bitter truth
But they work underground
This bad air would kill these honest folk.
John McGill

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