The World We Mean

This has such a selfish sound.
Even said with conviction—
"we have to save the world"—
doesn't mean what we think.

What will we save it from?
From itself? From climbing heat?
From poison gas destroying
the very air we breathe.

Keep the ice from melting?
Keep the seas from rising?
Keep the bears from dying?
Keep the trees from burning.

Nein. Nyet. Non. Negative.
A thousand times no!
Despite the news reporting
"we do this for the planet."

Those things may die,
replaced by something we will
not recognize, something that
loves the earth as much as we.

The earth will spin in space
until the sun goes nova—
long after all those things
die in the solar maelstrom.

It's still my opinion of selfish,
"we have to save the world"
means exactly this: "we have
to save the world"—for ourselves!