Poison Dawn

Little frogs with just three legs
and no voice with which to yell,
send an important message
that we need to hear them tell.

Down in the puddles and the mud
at the bottom of our food chain,
something strange is going on;
the world is making a change.

There is a book called “Silent Spring”
that all of us ought to read,
it made the case the world's not safe
from poisons like DDT.

We caught it then just in time
but others are still in use,
that was our first eco-alert
today there's no excuse.

Don't turn our creeks into seeps;
stagnant brackish pools,
if we are lowered to that horror
it will be the work of fools.

Cleaning it up takes time and guts
and money by the ton,
the easy way still tempts us today
just dump that stuff and run.

The farmers need to kill the weeds
and we want a nice green lawn,
but what will we do when we get to
life's end at the poison dawn?


by Robert Quinn
all rights reserved