My Namesake

As you sit stacking blocks, your face morphs into
a disarming smile each time a wobbling
column topples onto the floor. As you
peek over your shoulder to see if I’m watching,

I can’t help but wonder what your future will bring.
I’m leaving you a world of plenty where too many
go hungry, our planet’s lungs are shriveling,
wars are standard, and we await the next pandemic.

We stare at our screens as desperate refugees
push children across our borders, ... but watching,
you gives me hope, that despite all our misdeeds,
all is not lost. Change can come by collaborating.

Rather than restacking towers of fallen blocks
you may create brand new technology
to allow us to extract carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere, a gift to all for free.

Or you may become a great leader and statesman
who enables the world to end hunger.
It will not be child’s play. No trail of broken
breadcrumbs will lead you where my peers

failed to go. We’ve left you almost no chance
to succeed but you must strive to do the deeds
to save our globe which through our ignorance
is a shambles. Godspeed Charles Robert Godspeed.