Nightmare of Turbines 

The Nightmare of Turbines

’Twas the first night of summer, when all through the forest
Not a human was stirring, not even a tourist.
Mosquitoes were buzzing my tent everywhere
Tree frogs were calling in the cool evening air.

The wood rats were yawning while leaving their beds,
While visions of acorns danced in their heads.
And bats by the thousands flew all through the sky,
Catching the skeeters without batting an eye.

When out in the woods there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the tent flap I flew like a flash
Ripped open the zipper and made a mad dash.

The moon on the bark of the new-fallen trees
Produced such a glare that I fell to my knees.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But giant wind turbines – I trembled with fear.

Three blades were a-twirling, so lively, and quick
I knew in a moment it must be a trick.
The forest was gone, as the dozers rolled by
Steel towers appeared with blades high in the sky.

Gamesa, Airtricity, Florida Power and Light
Wind Companies that sneak in, even at night!
“To the top of the ridge! To the top of the hill!
Now cut away, blast away, never stand still!”

As red bats that before the wind turbines fly
When they meet with a blade, fall out of the sky.
It’s bats when it’s dark, but by day, eagles flew
With a smack from the blade, and they fell dead, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard a loud thump
That shattered my musings, and so I did jump.
As I recovered my senses, and gazed all around
I saw even more turbines shadowing the ground.

Where forests once stood there were roads everywhere,
Frogs, snakes, birds, and bat, these turbines did scare.
A bundle of cables that snaked underground
Connected each turbine, as they spun round and round.

The sun started rising – the blades how they flickered!
“But this rarely happens,” the wind companies snickered.
I watched as the shadows spun round and round,
It made me so dizzy that I fell to the ground.

The towers loomed over me – 400 feet high,
The noise of those turbines brought a tear to my eye.
The thumping and grinding replaced every bird song,
Wind turbines in forests – this has to be wrong!

But wait, don’t we need all this wind energy,
To power our houses, and so we can see?
Wind turbines don’t deliver reliable power
‘Cuz they just shut off at any old hour.

“But it’s free – wind is free,” wind companies keep saying,
“No pollution – no mining – no more delaying.
We want the job done – to get subsidy
We’ll stop global warming – we don’t need that tree!”

But trees are important – they absorb CO2
They make habitats and lower temperatures, too.
To save other forests we plan to file suit,
Let the courts take the cases, and lawyers refute

All the wind propaganda, the global warming claim
Is really a ruse – it’s a big money game.
We’ll speak for the wildlife, for the life-giving forests,
It’s like the dilemma that featured the Lorax.

Wind isn’t the answer to our energy crisis
Let’s conserve all we can. Forests are priceless.

–Mike and Laura Jackson
(with a special thanks to Clement Moore)