What world have we left for you, sweet child of mine?
Devastated old growth stands, fragmented animal habitat
Rising oceans, and melting permafrost;
Is your precocious nature going to help humanity
Through untold extinctions? I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,
And I’m sorry those who could do the most didn’t care –
I knew it was a problem when real estate prospectors
Were buying up future waterfront property;
They never doubted the inevitable, just wanted to deny it
Because shaking the status quo is bad for business
Already had budget lines for environmental infractions
It was never too late, it was always worth starting
Paralysed as we were in our conduct, sweet child of mine
We sold you short and I’m sorry… do you remember
Atlantic bluefin tuna? Do you know Pacific salmons?
Or have we made enough hatcheries to further dillute
Genetic pools more resilient than politicians understood?
It pains me to know we had the answers
But we decided to let your generation clean up the mess
Having to learn the same lessons over and over again