Lasting, by William V. Ray

Grainstacks, by Claude Monet (France) 1890

Lasting

 “Climate activists throw mashed potatoes at Monet work in Germany.”

What a sight for visitors when
Protesters, wearing their message or 
Orange caution vests, pushed aside
Monet’s garden, his haystacks
For their cause.  They want us to know:

It must be so!
With boilerplate shouts, lectures,
Mashed potatoes, glue, red paint
They’ve come to save us.

Last Generation they’re called
And maybe that’s true – rage,
Madness is prelude to the end

But even as we’re leaving,
Streets blackening from the sun,
Monuments collapsing,
Buildings challenged by coastal water,
Monet’s garden and haystacks will 
Dance on dying eyes.

William V. Ray

William V. Ray is a retired English teacher who has also been a textbook editor, freelance writer, and, of late, a café owner. His published work includes textbooks as well as poetry and poetic prose.  He is the editor of the online journal The Courtship of Winds <www.thecourtshipofwinds.org>.  He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.  For more detail, please visit his page at LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamvray>