what if

Greetings, Poetry People. It's the third Friday of the month and thus Climate Friday here at mjlu. I think I need to write a love poem for February, a love poem to possibility, a love poem to the planet. It's kind of a poet's First Job, isn't it? And you can say that planet poems are a dime a dozen, but that doesn't make the practice or the product any less valuable, now does it? I don't think so, at least.

The Medicine

What if the thermometer itself froze solid 
and the people linked arms and sang in solidarity with the cold?

What if the mercury crossed the endline of 32*
and the crowd of birds and squirrels went wild cheering the runoff?

What if the far-north ice patches receded,
revealing the darts of forebears who shopped at the caribou market? 

What if snow fell "quietly, quietly, leaving nothing out,"
and we each found our one job and did it thoroughly, faithfully?

What if the sun shone, ceaselessly dependable,
and to a person we built a photovoltaic prayer for the future?

What if indoors the gullible daffodils bloomed
and outdoors the bulbs underground kept counting the sunrise?

What if the currents of the wind changed,
and we packed our carpet bags, put up our umbrellas and sailed

to our next appointment, where once again
through elbow grease and a spoonful of sugar we reconnected
                                            all the members of the earthly family?

Instadraft (c) HM 2026

Greeting also to the ever-artful Robyn Hood Black, who is HERE for us in so many ways, topmost as our roundup host today.  Thanks, Robyn, and to you and any others who may not know them, check out

HERE: Poems for the Planet (an anthology) and

YOU ARE HERE: Poetry in the Natural World (Ada Limon's Laureate project)