It's Not Easy Being Green | Verses 291-300 | Poetry | Caroline Burrows | VerseCycle | Eco Poem Diary

Показать описание

'A Year of Trying to be Environmentally Friendly: It's Not Easy Being Green' Verses 291-300: by Caroline Burrows / VerseCycle with a little help from her friends.
These verses were written: 4th July-13th July 2020. Video compiled March 2021. These verses feature as well as themes of Being Environmentally Friendly: A Shakesepearean Cycling Theatre Company: The Handlebards:, Cycle Touring, Electric Car Charging, Walden, Henry David Thoreau, Woolly Heirlooms, Art Portfolios, Book Inscriptions, Computers: Rise of the Machines, Classic Star Wars Toys, Reusing Tubs, Misinformation, and Eco Blogs. Thanks to Michael, Fran, Hil, Henry and Jane for all recording a verse.
291
A Shakespearean theatre company,
‘The Handlebards’ tour on bikes with trailers,
Their webinar showed how they travel sustainably,
And encourage the same from their theatre-goers.
It’s not easy to be green; They’re go greener inspirers.
292
My neighbour has one of the electric hybrid motors,
But isn’t allowed to charge it parked in the street,
In case the cable trips up someone’s feet,
So drives it to a car park, where there are chargers.
It’s not easy being green; This planet is upside down bonkers.
293
I’m reading ‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau,
Who lived in an eco-shack two-hundred years ago,
In his book, he mocks a man who wanted to be a poet,
But only if he was rich. Thoreau thought him an idiot.
It’s not easy being green;
I felt better reading that, writing this in a leaky garret.
294
In July, in the north, I’m wearing a jumper,
I’m in my forties but this jumper’s even older,
It’s my dad’s, but he’s outgrown it a bit,
He bought it in Norway, them folks know how to knit.
It’s not easy being green; It’s keeping me snug, not feeling frostbit.
295
I move house-to-house with an art portfolio,
Full of drawings which stay zipped up inside,
I’m setting them free; to friends’ homes they’ll go,
Any left over, in the recycling I’ll throw.
It’s not easy being green; I’m setting my pictures free: al-fresco.
296
Inside my second-hand book is an inscription,
It wasn’t a shared sentiment, I suppose,
I used to laugh at such dead love declarations,
But I see sorrow in those words now decomposed.
It’s not easy being green;
Shut the book, give it away, chapter closed.
297
The power of my computer has spread,
If I write by hand, and put my pen down,
My brain goes ‘Control’plus ‘S’ to save the work in my head,
Am I a robot? Do I need to sleep or shutdown?
It’s not easy being green; I need to reclaim my human crown.
298
I’ve got about ninety Vintage Star Wars figures,
Who’ve all become separated from their blasters,
I’m spending my evenings marrying figures with guns,
And put each in a takeaway tub when that’s done.
It’s not easy being green; Now, what to do with my Millennium Falcon?
299
A British “newspaper” recommended ‘Eco-Cycle’
An app that lets you know what to save from the bin,
But it’s the daily fail. This tabloid’s article,
Is for an app not for the United Kingdom.
It’s not easy being green; I’ll have to do my own reporting.
300
I’ve found a great UK blog which has compiled,
Green apps for an eco-friendly lifestyle,
As a cyclist, I’m trying ‘Refill’ first,
To try solving the problem of quenching my thirst.
It’s not easy being green;
The blog’s by ‘Reco’, it seems well versed.

Caroline Burrows @VerseCycle is a writer of poetry, prose: fiction and non-fiction. Her poems range thematically from cycling; trying to be environmentally friendly; to love and heartbreak; and depression and anxiety, while her flash fiction, short stories include comedy, speculative fiction, and fairy tales. Her most recent poetry commission #ChattertonRises for Glenside Hospital Museum with Bristol Festival of Ideas #APoeticCity and continues on from the previous commission ‘#PoetryHelps: Suicide Awareness & Prevention’. Her eco ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’ video poems were exhibited at Warrington’s Contemporary Art Exhibition 2020. She has been published in The 2020 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology, The Wilfred Owen Association Journal, Cycle UK Magazine, The Lancaster One Minute Monologue 2019 collection, The Rainbow Poems, The Sunday Tribune , short-listed for the Nature in the Air 2020 Poetry Competition, and longlisted for Penguin Write Now 2020. She has featured on The Open Collab’s Monthly Poetry/Music shows, Sprocket Podcast (Ep: 548); Cycling Europe Podcast (Ep: 13), Bike Life: Warmshowers Foundation Cycling podcast, and Spoken Label Poetry podcast. She has also been a speaker at The Cycle Touring Festival, and performed at the 2020 Lancaster Arts in the Park (virtual) Festival.
More can be found under the name VerseCycle:
Copyright © 2021 Caroline Burrows.