Step Away from The Gold Rush! Please do so with haste.
It cannot overtake us. It can’t move that fast.
But it does. It’s the rush of a blanket of fire.
Though it glitters like gold, it is no one’s desire,
And the smoke left behind leaves the sky overcast.
That which was once a paradise is laid to waste.

Mother Nature compelled us once to this rich land
Complementing the ocean in elegant beach
And magnificent mountains. Like locusts we flew
And took on a big gamble, for all that we knew.
The rush then became statehood with magnetic reach
Across distance to peoples of skin somewhat tanned.

The rush of xenophobia filtered into
The fine fabric of governance to deal with crime
While the rush of gold nuggets came to but a few.
Laws that targeted immigrants was something new.
Things have increased in heat with the passage of time.
We depend on our leaders to know what to do.

Perhaps After The Gold Rush, as ashes are laid
And we have time to process events taking place,
We may notice that climate change has much to do
With how much we ignore what quite clearly is true.
The return of The Gold Rush puts us in a race
For our very survival, yet we’re not afraid.