Reactions expressed in verse

Поэзия! Стихи…Они удивляют нас порой неожиданными образами, чутко найденным словом, музыкой рифмы…Но всегда ли за красивыми строчками, за доверительным тоном читатель ощущает искреннюю любовь? А может тревогу за судьбу будущего?

I. This poem has a cynical tone, describing step-by-step how a terrorist might prepare to go to “Allah Land” (Heaven) through destroying others. Do you think the poet kept control of his angry feelings and channeled them into powerful poetic images? What is your reaction to this poem?

Trip to Allah Land

Memoriam to the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center Catastrophe:

A trip to Allah Land

is never easy as it sounds

first you need an enemy

then it helps to have a plane

Camels are too slow these days

and nights of Uncle Sam where

enemies abundantly are found

In ant hive rush hours

outside a billowing tent

in stone-age deserts

(blasting Buddhas

too with booming

cannons)

no radio allowed while

they practice for their Low tech is still the answer though

no scimitars no “La-la-la-la-la!”

across the dunes no oily

towels around the face no

bleating camels but

trip to Allah Land

in a rented car a book

open to a page that says

“How to Fly an Airplane”

from here to Allah Land

Ed Wickliffe, USA

II. This poet works with description and dynamic verbs to record the event of 9-11 and the emotional response. Are the rhymes well-chosen and effective? Viewing the events from Australia, the poet has some emotional “distance”. Does it take on a more universal theme? Does she leave room for forgiveness?

Terrorism’s Tragic Tale

Many souls cry horror in the dawn

The world altered this terrible morn

Twin pillars of steel, fire and ash

To the ground tumble and crash

Disbelievers looked on in shock

Waited for news around the clock

Anger smouldered deep then flared

Seeking those criminals who had dared

Humanity mourns the uncounted dead

And wonders how so much hate was fed

Compassion flows for all victims involved

The perpetrators can never be absolved

Rachel Barkley, Australia

Unit V. Threats. World disasters

“I love not Man the less, but Nature more” G.G.Byron. Childe Harold`s Pilgrimage.

Nature pardons no errors. R.W.Emerson. Essays

Look at the progress we`ve already made Diane Goyle

Here's a familiar and terrible story. It says we live in a world where powerful corporations are ravaging the environment on a global scale and technology is out of control. Some environmentalists think growth in itself is intolerable, that any growth depletes natural re­sources and contributes to global warming. The extreme environmentalist case is wrong, anyway. If it were correct, many commodities, includ­ing oil, would be rising and not falling in price over long periods. Yet there is no sign that scarcity is biting, despite extraordinary in­creases in demand. The explanation lies in the most fundamental engine of economic growth: technology. Technological advances mean ever-increasing economic demands are being met without parallel in­creases in the pressure on natural resources. So, for example, a 1% in­crease in world GDP growth raises demand for energy by only 0.4%, a much lower rise than 10 or 20 years ago because of the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. Some developing countries are among the most efficient: in China 1% more growth uses only 0.1% more energy. And new energy technologies are moving steadily away from hydro­carbons towards "renewables". As developing countries industri­alise, they will be able to leapfrog older and dirtier technologies. Their terms of access to these technol­ogies are crucially important, but there is no reason to believe they will ignore the lessons learned in the leading economies by trial and error over a century or so. The richest economies are weighing less heavily on the environment than they used to — literally so. In the United States and UK, the growth of the 1990s occurred without additional use of resources. Manufacturers have become more efficient and far less wasteful of raw materials and energy. New materials have been developed. Most environmental problems call for better environmental pol­icies, not different economic pol­icies. The aim of economic policy must be maximum growth, spread as widely as possible. Poverty is the biggest environmental problem. About 80% of the annual logging in Asia, Africa and South America is for domestic fuel, as wood and char­coal are cheap energy sources. Rich cities have cleaner air than poor cities. It's obvious that the pattern of world economic development has been deeply flawed. Most economists believe faster growth for developing countries is as much a moral imper­ative as an economic one. Environmentalists, on the other hand, stake their expertise on the likelihood of catastrophe. In the teeth of the evidence, few will admit any of their pessimism is misplaced.