162 APPENDIX B
The Case for Hope Amidst Climate Change Catastrophe
Is hope apocalyptic after all?
Does it let us wait, twiddling our thumbs,
In between bursts
Of furious
Activity?
Do we find kindred spirits
In our search for salvation and think
We are closer
To accomplishment?
When in fact, loss follows loss,
Wildfires burn,
Countries drown,
Species disappear.
Or would that be an unkind misconstrual?
Do times like this
Render us in need
Of friends, now more than ever?
Is compassion our mast
Hope our guiding star
And empathy born of friendship
The wind in our gutsy sails?
Who loses? What prevails?
We fought for Initiative sixteen thirty-one
The Pacific Northwest
The first frontier
Of hope for change to a politics of trying
Of recognising
What times call on us to do.
To make polluters pay, to compensate
Victims of fossil fuels and give a chance
To an energy sector powered by renewables