shall i compare thee to a summer’s day

Tom Davidson McLeod

Your porcelainic cheek—as white, and warmer Than coral bleaching caused by thermal trauma. The tangled smokey black within your hair— More dark (with fewer toxins) than the air. Your lips are trilling threads of daring red— Crimson as skies that ferment overhead. Your smile, full of kindness, grace, and trust Makes short my breath (as does the ashy dust). Your sweet, liquescent voice’s still emotion— More smooth than oil spilt across an ocean. The glimmer of your eyes—sharp and discerning— Glows bright like sixteen million hectares burning.

The truth is you and I belong together— Like fossil fuels and climate changing weather; Like nectar goes with bees, or does with stags; Like turtles’ stomachs go with plastic bags; Like weddings bands that fit a dainty finger; Like radiation goes with Maralinga; Like Hello Kitty and the term “kawaii”; Like firestorms and vacations in Hawaii; Like star-crossed lovers go with adolescence— Like Garbage Island and planned obsolescence. Like sorrow goes with loss, and love with lust Like Gina Rinhart’s children and a trust.

My heart is yours, you’ve stolen it away— Like starlight stolen by the break of day; Like mystery stolen by hows and whys; Like hope stolen from Greta Thunberg’s eyes; Like future prospects stolen from the youth; Like Murdoch stole our chance to hear the truth; Like Mephisto stole Faust with Marguerite; Like polar ice caps stolen by the heat; Like time steals youth and rots what’s ripe and fresh; Like rising seas will soon steal Bangladesh; Like twigs, for nests, are stolen by the starling— Like gigalitres from the Murray Darling.

I love you just as coal’s loved by deniers; Like soft koala fur’s loved by our fires; Like voyagers adore uncharted miles; Like rising seas love Pacific isles; Like kindness loves the act of benefaction; Like federal cabinets love climate inaction; Like hummingbirds love flowers once they’ve flourished; Like droughts love watching cattle die, malnourished; Like generals love their medals for distinction; Like humankind loves watching mass extinction; Like God so loves to hear a child’s wish— Like thermal shock loves slurries of dead fish.

My heart’s as chasmic as Adani’s mine Your love’s a subsidy more sweet than wine. And hence thou be no summer’s day, dear thing. I shall compare thee to a silent spring.