Darkened stains on an Eastern carpet
the night air choked with toxic gases
Landscapes obliterated, lives dismantled
invasion and war echo through the ages
Spanish flu and Omicron rage
across playgrounds of disturbed habitats
Spikes probe into all corners
of a decreasingly small planet
Addicts of black gold
watch with indifference
Ice and polar bears vanish
plastics replace frozen water
Feral dogs fed on anger and abuse
sow seeds of cancerous intent
Those nourished by expressions of love
seek to connect broken worlds
Patterns within patterns, clocks within clocks
tick tock, tick tock
© Don Gordon
Picture 10643533, 2012 photograph, image copyright Mary Evans / Paul Brown
Originally from Toronto, now living near Liverpool, Don Gordon is an emerging poet with a particular interest in travel and eco-poetry, using a wide range of poetic forms including haibun, sonnet and free verse. He has taken several courses in creative writing at CityLit and his writing is informed by a career working in conservation and education, including 10 years teaching students with learning and communication difficulties. He also has a background in Mindfulness and recently wrote a chapter on the effects of mindfulness on children with autistic spectrum condition in the publication Mindful Heroes: stories of journeys that changed lives (Inspired by Learning, 2019). A keen outdoorsman, Don has hiked large sections of the Appalachian Trail and has always enjoyed the poetry of authors such as Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry in their appreciation of the natural world. One of the projects Don is currently working on is writing a collection of poems aimed at addressing the climate and biodiversity crises that we are currently facing.
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