Silly Rhyming The UNSDGs
Many times I’ve asked The New York Times to run articles on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs)
They never responded, for all I know throwing my requests into a ditch
One week in September they briefly mentioned it thrice, but just one Poverty Goal
But we need more, so desperate, I resorted to taking their unusual offer to readers to let loose and poem my pitch.
The Goals created in 2015 are hard and interrelated
We’re supposed to meet all 17 by 2030
How can we possibly when Americans don’t even know about them?
But if we don’t, Mother Earth will still be dirty.
They are: No Poverty; Zero Hunger; Good Health & Well Being
Quality Education; Gender Equality; Clean Water & Sanitation
Affordable & Clean Energy; Decent Work & Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure
Reduced Inequalities; Sustainable Cities & Communities; Responsible Consumption & Production.
Climate Action; Life Below Water; Life on Land
Peace, Justice, & Strong Institutions; Partnerships For The Goals
All with targets and strategies
Meet them or the ozone layer won’t be the only thing with a hole.
An awful poem, but you try rhyming infrastructure
I can live with no future as a poet
The UNSDGs will give us a more fighting chance
Instead of business as usual and blowing it.
So, no, they didn’t print it
It might have catalyzed creative new approaches and helped get us out of our oblivious zone
I’d even promised never to submit Editors and readers to this again
Remember, the UNSDGs are a way to do more to protect the Earth, our only home.
The ones they did were all poems song to a classic tune
But what melody could fit a theme of “Do some stories on this, already!”
They say “We only manage what we measure”
So tell us what we’re supposed to be shooting for, how ‘bout it Dear Gray Lady?
