Black and White Poetics — Episode 3
Dialogue
DANIEL:
The clouds carry chills that spill
Throughout the trees
Bringing in the heavy seas
Storms that won’t leave us be
Subpolar westerlies
Never seem to be at ease
But please
Just listen to the words that I speak
From my beak
As we trek on up the troposphere
The trades exchange waves
And smiles discrete
‘Til we hit the boundary
Where the trop meets the strat and we must take pause
Because
It all just flows
And flows
& flows
...and flows
While the wind just blows
The answer
Far, far away
SAMIR:
Now I wouldn’t really say
This represents the day to day
More like a way to play
It out within the constraints
Of time
Real time
No Bill, no bull
Don’t feel noble
To build cities underneath
The towering clouds of divine retribution
Who’s choosing the source?
Why...you, of course.
DANIEL:
Volcanic explosions lead to widespread commotion
And all those aerosols are bound to make our hair go soft
O Fire! Fire!
Fire on the mountain
But nary a begonia
To be found
Along the ground
So come on, gather round
All across this aching land
While ye still can
And let us all discuss
The matters which we must
First up: a little thing
Known as radiative forcing
Or, the difference between
The energy that we’re absorbing
And that which we have launched out
Out into space
Like a shuttle
Not too subtle
Skip the scuttle...butt
And let’s get into what
Is meant
By this here chart
Cause surely this ain’t modern art
As it seems to lack the punch
Of Basquiat or Edvard Munch
And besides, I’ve got a hunch
That it’s trying to tell us something
Of importance
So kick off your Jordans
And take a seat
So we can see
Just what it all means
Well, to begin, there are a couple different gases
Those that warm, and those that cool
And we produce them both
Like - listen up folks
Here’s where it gets a little tricky
Things get sticky
You might think I’m trying to trick thee
But I’m not
It’s just that greenhouse gases make it hot
But think back to the smokestacks
The sulfur they emit
Takes a trip
To the Sun
And then reflects its light right back to space
Which actually makes it the case
That this aerosol pollution
Serves as a very small solution
To all this warming
Because it makes it cool
Not “cool” cool, but a little chilly
You feel me?
It offsets
But not enough
And enough is what we happen to be
In dire need of
That and a whole lotta love
From above
...if you’re into that
