Blood grease and gristle make carnivore for you—
with a side of chopped greens, omnivore for you.
Jungles destroyed to plant grasslands for cattle—
now playing in a new Michael Moore for you
while at sea wider nets catch over the limit—
sweeping clean all of ocean floor for you.
Cries to conserve bring out earplugs and blinders—
“It’s not good for business or for you.”
Up in the sky carbon causes a tempest—
hear the gods playing drums of Thor for you?
Though charts and graphs prove it, there are some who deny
this inconvenient truth. (That’s Al Gore for you.)
Scientists warn we must mend our ways
or an unending storm is in store for you.
—
Jeanne-Marie Osterman is the author of four collections of poetry, including Shellback (Paloma Press), named by Kirkus a top 100 indie press book of 2021 and winner of the 2025 American Legacy Book Award, and All Animals Want the Same Things, winner of the Slipstream Press Annual Poetry Chapbook competition. She’s received three Pushcart nominations, and in 2018 was a finalist for the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. Poetry editor for Cagibi, Jeanne-Marie lives in New York City. Visit her at www.ostermanpoetry.com
