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Copyright© 2021 by Cheryl Batavia
“No Time for Fears,” though originally posted for Halloween,
is a useful philosophy for everyday life.
Courage is needed in our scary times.
It is one of the poems appearing in Earthly Days.
Now
Available on Amazon
&
Barnes & Noble !
Humpback Whale. Photo by Cheryl Emerick from Unsplash
A hungry humpback named Harry
said: this krill shortage can be quite scary.
It’s just climate change; don’t be alarmed…
Your buddy Harry’s found a salmon farm.
We can outsmart the humans…Don’t worry!
A gourmet menu we will enjoy
when new fishing strategies we employ.
Fishing in shallow waters we can do.
Dolphins fish together…we can too!
Now don’t you think Harry’s a smart boy?
Forest Chimpanzees. Photo by Andrea Acanfera from Pexels
Some chimpanzees left their forest home.
The scorching Savannah they did roam.
Scarce resources required large territories,
more walking upright with fewer trees.
It would get even hotter in years to come!
Global warming? We’ll shed some hair!
Hungry? More termite fishing…Who cares?
Thirsty? There’s a river…We’re in luck!
We’ll dig a little hole and filter out the muck.
We’re Savannah Chimps and proud of living here!
Marine Iguana, Galapagos. Photo by Michael Gerrard from Pexels
Darwin studied iguanas; so fascinated was he
with the only lizards that swim in the sea!
Hypothermia, though, is a threat…
Global warming makes rocks hotter yet!
Iguanas can adapt remarkably…
Marine Iguanas shrink in el Nino.
Amazingly, in la Nina, they regrow!
Bone is reabsorbed to shorten their spines;
bone is regrown in cooler times…
Can they survive climate change? We don’t know!
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Animals in many places are responding to climate change by changing their behaviors. Warming seawater has resulted in a decrease in the number of krill, a tiny shrimp that is the primary food of humpback whales.
One group of whales have adapted by finding a new food source, salmon fry from a hatchery in British Columbia whose mission is to replenish the dwindling salmon population. One whale changed his diet from krill to salmon fry. He feasted when the salmon fry were released from their net enclosures.
Humans then started transporting the fry a mile away to release them. The whale followed the boat and adapted by learning to fish in the shallow water. Then he recruited a team of his buddies to fish in teams as dolphins do. I guess the hatchery will have to produce a much larger crop of salmon fry to feed the hungry humpback whales and still have enough salmon for human fishermen!
A group of forest chimpanzees migrated to the savannah of Senegal. The climate was hotter, there were fewer trees, and sources of food were far apart. The chimps responded to the heat by growing less body hair. They established larger territories. Because there were fewer trees, chimps spent more time walking upright than their forest relatives, who usually travel by swinging through the treetops.
Because there was less fruit to serve as a source of water, they had to find fresh water sources. To purify mucky water, they learned to dig holes in sandy riverbanks. When the water filtered through the sand, the holes were filled with clean water for the chimps to drink.
As a source of protein, the savannah chimps use twigs to fish for termites, spending much more time in this activity than forest chimps do. In the middle of the day, when weather is hot, these chimps seek shelter in caves, as early humans once did.
As the climate warms, the savannah will become many degrees hotter. Water sources will dry up. Life will become even more difficult for the savannah chimps. Will they be able to survive?
Marine Iguanas, famously studied by Charles Darwin, live in the Galapagos Islands, a harsh environment. To survive hot weather, they shrink their bodies. In cooler periods, they regrow to their usual size. Too long in cold water, iguanas face hypothermia, which can be fatal. Can marine Iguanas survive global warming?
For more information, watch the PBS video on YouTube, “Earth is Changing (and Animals are Adapting in Surprising Ways.)” Evolution Earth
https://to.pbs.org/44Cuts5|#EvolutionEarthPBS
Earthly Days is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
in both softcover and Kindle version.
Photo by David Bartus from Pexels
Earthly Days
Now available on Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
Soft cover and Kindle editions.
My thanks to da-AL for inviting me as her guest on “Happiness Between Tails.” I hope you enjoy her informative and engaging post and my new poem, “Carbon Farming & Climate Change.” Check out the fascinating video about how carbon farming can restore worn-out soil, produce healthy food, reduce carbon dioxide in the air and water pollution from run-off, and combat global warming.
Earthly Days is now available on
Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
Questions work magic!
Great discoveries appear
when we seek answers.
Copyright© 2020 by Cheryl Batavia
This poem was written in response to Ingrid’s EIF Poetry Challenge #8, and was awarded third place. My sincere thanks to Ingrid for posting the challenge on Experiments in Fiction and to Jaya Avendel of Nin Chronicles, who judged the challenge.
This is one of the poems that appears in Earthly Days.
Earthly Days
is now available from Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
The softcover edition, because of the many color photos is priced at $18.99.
The electronic version, which will also contain all the color photos, but without the printing costs, will be priced at $2.99 when it becomes available.
Now available on Amazon &
Barnes and Noble.
Celebrating the lives of our grandparents, whose positive influence has continued throughout our lives and in the lives of everyone who loved them. Photo by Jamie Street from Unsplash
High on a hill, in a historic graveyard
overlooking a quaint Pennsylvania town,
we went to say our final goodbyes
to our grandmother.
After the crowd had dispersed,
my brother, sister, and I lingered.
We each threw a handful of earth
into the open grave.
There was something satisfying about doing that.
My grandmother had always loved growing things
in that Pennsylvania earth; she had placed a headstone
years before, planning to join my grandfather here.
We stood for a few moments in silence
as the cemetery worker waited to fill the grave.
Our grandparents were gone.
It was the end of an era.
When I think of my grandparents today,
in my mind’s eye, I can see the graveyard
high on a hill, and a pink granite headstone
engraved with a heart and both of their names.
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Photo by Eve Ellen Maher
Copyright © 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Earthly Days
is available on Amazon &
Barnes & Noble
https://a.co/51DGEok
Soft cover and Kindle editions
“Cactus-Tailed Cat” is one of the poems that will be appearing in Earthly Days. It was first published on this blog in 2020. In that photo, the cat had a tail made of a cucumber!
Here is the poem as it appears in Earthly Days with a new photo by my daughter, Eve Ellen Maher, the cat’s current owner. Ellen is an ordained chaplain, following in her grandfather’s footsteps. The cat now has a real cactus tail.
This is the second in a series of three posts about my paternal grandparents.
Vintage Phonograph. Grandma was a “flapper” with bobbed hair and rolled-down hose, and she loved to dance! I don’t know how my grandparents met, but it might well have been at a dance. Maybe they listened to music on a phonograph like this. Photo by Sudhith Xavier from Unsplash.
Grandpa, born about 1898, worked in steel mills all around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as a young man. He bought an early car and travelled to Chicago to learn how to maintain it. There were no repair shops then. In a time when most people didn’t go to school beyond the eighth grade, Grandpa had graduated from high school. He loved to read and continued to educate himself throughout his life.
My grandmother, about ten years younger than Grandpa, was only able to attend school through second grade because she had to take care of her younger sisters while her single mother worked. At twelve years of age, she went to work as a hotel maid to help support her family. In her teens, she worked as a lifeguard. During her brief time in school, she had learned to read, and, like Grandpa, she continued to educate herself as long as she lived.
Sweethearts,
Roaring Twenties.
Flapper, aged seventeen,
ladies’ man, aged twenty-seven,
were wed.
Wild days…
Prohibition…
brewing beer, making wine…
before they got religion and
reformed!
Hard times…
Great Depression…
working to raise two sons.
Hard work, sheer determination,
true grit!
Grandma:
gardener, seamstress,
home nurse, cleaning lady,
restaurant cook, Sunday School
teacher.
Success,
prosperity,
respectability…
Grandpa in construction bussiness…
Good times!
Empty Nest.
On the dresser,
just two photos displayed…
Methodist preacher, state trooper…
their sons!
Big dreams!
My grandparents,
always flipping houses,
painting, papering, plastering…
Moving!
Dream house!
Grandma, Grandpa…
joint effort, as always,
rehabbing Grandma’s childhood home.
Last house!
Grandkids
spending time there
made childhood memories:
fresh eggs, strawberries, handmade clothes,
laughter!
Retired.
Grandfathering,
fishing, golfing, dart games,
classes, reading, enjoying life…
Happy days!
Married
fifty-some years.
Did they love each other?
Public displays of affection…
not seen.
Grandpa,
when diagnosed
with Parkinson’s Disease,
patiently taught Grandma to drive.
That’s love!
Grandma,
when Grandpa died,
placed a carved-heart headstone,
pink granite with both of their names.
That’s love!
Grandma
had a business.
Gift shops carried her handmade
Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls.
Lovely!
Grandma,
for twenty years,
lived to bring others joy,
hoping to join Grandpa one day.
That’s love!
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
This is the first of three posts about my paternal grandparents.
Sea turtle hatchling racing to the safety of the ocean. Photo by Christopher Farrugia from Unsplash.
I am that flash of green as the sun goes down.
I am the crest of a wave before it breaks on the shore,
a lightning bolt that ushers in a clap of thunder.
I am the moment of a butterfly’s first flight,
the rush of sea turtle hatchlings to the safety of the sea.
I am the moment when lovers’ eyes first meet.
I am that half-forgotten melody that lingers in your mind,
a half-remembered dream that eludes you when you wake.
I am that pang of regret for a kind word left unspoken.
I am the blink of an eye, the shadow of a smile.
I am that rare, pivotal moment when opportunity knocks.
I am the moment…and then I am gone!
Sea turtle hatchlings. Photo by Ricardo Braham from Unsplash.
Copyright© 2023 by Cheryl Batavia
Earthly Days is available
on Amazon & Barnes & Noble
Earthly Days, is a collection of poems chosen from my blog posts over the last three-and-half years. My deep appreciation goes out to those who have posted reviews thus far. Watch for future reviews from your fellow bloggers. Check out their websites for outstanding content. If you missed their reviews of Earthly Days, you can find them at the URLs below.
Kaushal Kishore
< https://kaushalkishore.wordpress.com>
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/08/20/earthly-days/
Kritika Tanvi
<https://valorousbird.wordpress.com>
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/08/28/earthly-days-2/
Ritish Sharma
gulfcoastpoet.com/2023/09/02/earthly-days-3/
Gulf Coast Poet 