The chart spikes red. The coral bleaches white.
I testify. The chairman checks his flight.
They schedule a review. The quorum thins.
The ledger rounds us down. The quarter grins.

The temperature climbs scarlet on the screen,
The anchor cuts to ads for gasoline.
The semi idles. Downstream, levees groan.
The weather’s brought to you. You’re on your own.

The sparrow’s song won’t figure in the math.
The blade breaks earth. The spreadsheet logs the path.
The ink dries on the line marked sign here, please—
The bird holds no equity in trees.

The permafrost lets go of what it kept—
Methane the ice held while the glaciers slept.
The ticker scrolls green. The trading floor cheers.
They’ve monetized the thaw of a million years.

I rinse each plastic bottle. The labels lie.
They’re shipped to Malaysia. Rivers die.
A billionaire pours concrete, toasts the view.
The bunker holds his provisions—not for you.

The system took my twenties, then my knees.
I clocked in through pneumonia. Hack. Wheeze.
I type through numbness. Flex the hand. Repeat.
The profit’s made. The body’s obsolete.

The oil exec knew in ’79.
The memo: Twist the science. Buy us time.
They shrug as we sink in manufactured smog.
The rising line consumes us. Close the log.