Homework WE 27/3/18 - Climate Change in the Land of Gosh

[Shelley Hansen]

Goodness, Maureen - you certainly are good at throwing us curly challenges!! Like Catherine, I started out by googling the Norse legends, but then I read David's quirky piece, and thought it was something CJ Dennis would have appreciated. That got me started on a different path - and an idea was born!

I hope the irony will be self-evident, but anyone familiar with "The Glugs of Gosh" will recognise the setting immediately.

So, especially for David and Stephen, with fond memories of Toolangi 2017 - and with due deference to my beloved CJ Dennis, here’s my homework ...

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE LAND OF GOSH
(c) Shelley Hansen 9/3/18

Have you heard of the ancient land of Gosh
with its strange race known as Glugs?
They could think like us, but it must be said
the majority were mugs.

For a crisis came from the skies above
in the days of great King Splosh,
when precipitation was at its peak
and the land was all awash.

And the anvil cloud of the mighty Thor
vent its fury west and east,
while striated clouds raced with winds on high
to the awe of man and beast.

So the great King Splosh sought a prophet who
could explain what this might mean,
and a Glug named Sym came to understand
why their land was slimy green.

“It’s the greenhouse gas,” uttered Sym the Wise,
“there’s a change in substance here,
and we must take heed of the warning signs
lest we perish. This I fear!”

But they laughed at Sym, and the King said, “Bosh!
It’s a trick by Fake News Press!”
So the terrible twins were placed in charge,
who were named “Decay” and “Mess”.

So they fracked the earth and they burned the coal
and their toxic waste was spread –
till today there is no such place as Gosh,
and the last known Glug is dead.

But these pointless words are an ancient tale
of a long-lost backward land,
and could not apply to our modern world –
as I’m sure you understand.

For we live in a most enlightened age
where our knowledge store is vast,
so we can’t conceive that we'd need to learn
any lessons from the past.

[Stephen Whiteside]

The folk who fill the pages of our ancient histories
Always looks so foolish. They can never find the keys
To turn their tragic lives around. They blindly stumble on.
How sweet it is to know at last such ignorance is gone!

[Catherine Lee]

Very clever indeed, Shelley! I knew you must be pondering hard on something different for this homework - well done!

[Maureen K Clifford]

Oh well done Shelley That is thinking outside the square and you have put those prompts to excellent use in this clever and witty poem, and managed to impart a little moral in there as well. Clever you...I love it. CJD would be very proud I reckon.

[Shelley Hansen]

Thanks so much Maureen and Catherine.

Stephen - how wonderful it is that we are not shackled by the woeful ignorance that our forebears struggled with!!

[Wendy Seddon]

Oh My Gosh Shelley,
you really caused a Splosh with this one.

I Glug it!!

[David Campbell]

Yes indeed, Shelley. I have no doubt that the great King Splosh was the original "very stable genius"!

Cheers
David

[Shelley Hansen]

Thanks so much Wendy ... you definitely got it!

Thanks David, and yes - the possibilities for analogies are endless ...

Cheers
Shelley

[Terry]

Very Clever Shelley

I'm impressed that you managed to make such good use of the prompts,
I barely managed one in my ramblings.

Terry

[Shelley Hansen]

Thanks Terry. Maureen has always said we can use as many or as few of the prompts as we wish.

I just had fun trying to factor them all in. I really enjoyed your poem too.