What if .....? (A Sonnet for COP26)

Along the village street I tread with fear, My head now pounds and reels with grim disgust; So faint I feel with deadly heat severe - I choke as gusts of wind now stir the dust. I see the sun so red through haze so thick, I pass the dried-up pond with ducks no more; Just mud and sludge that stink - I feel so sick – A village despoiled and scourged for evermore Gardens unattended – dusty, wild - The village shop – closed for evermore; No one smiles – all dignity defiled, “How now?” I ask, “Our stricken lives restore?” Will our lives to such a state succumb? Or will such folly now be overcome? 9 November 2021 This sonnet was written during the COP26 conference being held in Glasgow (November 2021) and reflects a view of what would happen 30 or so years’ later should no positive decisions be made by the countries attending……..