Urban Sprawl ** Options

[jerryk]

Urban Sprawl

Flocks of snowbirds,
drawn by sunshine
arrive each autumn.

Black diesel exhaust;
I gasp as construction trucks
thunder along the canal
where I once rode horses.

Uncontrollable sprawl
changed desert landscape
into heat-retaining seas of concrete,
asphalt ribbons, glistening
glass structures loom;
winter homes
for baby boomers
tired of shoveling snow.

Air-conditioning
saves me from suffocating
in stirred up desert dust
loaded with Valley Fever
coccidioides.

“Growth equals progress”
says my councilman; friend
of greedy developers.
“And new revenue.”

[Psyche]

Hi Jerry!
I'm back...and sadly admiring your protest verses due to the devastation of bonny lands of yore.
Let me make one or two nits, to TorT, of course!

Urban Sprawl

Flocks of snowbirds,
drawn by sunshine
arrive each autumn;
vanished has my bridle path. <<<<< seems to me that reversal of preposition sticks out like a sore thumb here...LOL... Also, the whole line might fit in better somewhere else, as in the next S.

Black diesel exhaust;
I gasp as construction trucks
thunder along the canal
where I once rode horses. <<<<<<< Powerful S, I'd feel the same.

Uncontrollable sprawl
changed desert landscape <<<<<<<There's so much hidden beauty in desert landscapes...all sorts of creatures rustling dry bushlands, oh my!

into heat-retaining seas of concrete,
asphalt ribbons, glistening
glass structures loom; <<<<<< Exactly. Reason for great floods as rain water cannot be absorbed, sometimes rushing over from greener pastures. So sad.
winter homes
for baby boomers
tired of shoveling snow.

Air-conditioning
saves me from suffocating
in stirred up desert dust
loaded with Valley Fever
coccidioides.<<<<< Had to look this up! It's from a type of mushroom. Tx for teaching me! I suppose there must be similar ones in Argentine Patagonia, where I live...

“Growth equals progress”
says my councilman; friend
of greedy developers.

“And new revenue.” <<<<< Naah, the man's got it all wrong. Money comes and goes, sooner than later. Whereas felicity should be the new norm to "measure", plus moral values and spirituality, methinks.

I like your poem very much, Jerry. Must remember to post some of my own protest verses. We're near the tipping point, where it'll all become irreversible. Even if climate change is a natural, cyclic phenomenom, the damage humanity is doing is scary, so obviously ruinous.

Hey, I only had one nit, to TorT.
Cheers, Syl*** aka Psyche

[jerryk]

Hi Sylvia;
I hope you are well? All in all, I think you treated my rant rather kindly, lol. I really don't like to write of things that bother me, and in this write, I feel that my poem is exactly that: a rant. By the way, I removed the line that stood out like a bandaged thumb, lol. "Where I once rode horses" takes place of that now deleted phrase. BTW, we haven't had a measurable rainfall in over three months, but when it comes, there will be hell to pay. Coccidiodes is the infectious fungal disease that's called Valley Fever. Developers disturb the soil that carries the fungus. It's a serious disease that requires long-term treatment.
Thank you for your detailed comment, Sylvia.
Jerry

Hi Jerry!
I'm back...and sadly admiring your protest verses due to the devastation of bonny lands of yore.
Let me make one or two nits, to TorT, of course!

Urban Sprawl

Flocks of snowbirds,
drawn by sunshine
arrive each autumn;
vanished has my bridle path. <<<<< seems to me that reversal of preposition sticks out like a sore thumb here...LOL... Also, the whole line might fit in better somewhere else, as in the next S.

Black diesel exhaust;
I gasp as construction trucks
thunder along the canal
where I once rode horses. <<<<<<< Powerful S, I'd feel the same.

Uncontrollable sprawl
changed desert landscape <<<<<<<There's so much hidden beauty in desert landscapes...all sorts of creatures rustling dry bushlands, oh my!

into heat-retaining seas of concrete,
asphalt ribbons, glistening
glass structures loom; <<<<<< Exactly. Reason for great floods as rain water cannot be absorbed, sometimes rushing over from greener pastures. So sad.
winter homes
for baby boomers
tired of shoveling snow.

Air-conditioning
saves me from suffocating
in stirred up desert dust
loaded with Valley Fever
coccidioides.<<<<< Had to look this up! It's from a type of mushroom. Tx for teaching me! I suppose there must be similar ones in Argentine Patagonia, where I live...

“Growth equals progress”
says my councilman; friend
of greedy developers.

“And new revenue.” <<<<< Naah, the man's got it all wrong. Money comes and goes, sooner than later. Whereas felicity should be the new norm to "measure", plus moral values and spirituality, methinks.

I like your poem very much, Jerry. Must remember to post some of my own protest verses. We're near the tipping point, where it'll all become irreversible. Even if climate change is a natural, cyclic phenomenom, the damage humanity is doing is scary, so obviously ruinous.

Hey, I only had one nit, to TorT.
Cheers, Syl*** aka Psyche