Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Geosonnet 15

The ants which scuttle by between our toes
Dissolve the min’rals of the Earth we tread
The calcic feldspar, slipped under their nose
Ten trillion insects weather, pit, and shred.
The Himalayan mountains cool the Earth
Though mangroves and the grasses do their part,
But ants may do what was the work of turf
By min’ralizing CO2, they start
Evaporating seas in Neogene
Drying the Earth to suit their sandy hives
Anthropocene becomes the Formicene
The terraformic swarm constructs, connives.
  No human teamwork makes emissions slow
  Yet toiling ants sequester far below.

Geology 42 771

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2 comments:

  1. Chris Phoenix22 October, 2014 07:21

    The pedant strikes, and suggests:

    The ants which scuttle by beneath our paws
    Dissolve the min’rals of the Earth we tread
    The calcic feldspar, splintered by their jaws,
    Ten trillion insects weather, pit, and shred.

    ...because ants don't have noses, you know. On the other hand, the article is paywalled, and the abstract doesn't say whether they actually break up feldspar with their jaws.

    ReplyDelete
  2. C W Magee22 October, 2014 14:59

    Poetic license has been taken.

    ReplyDelete