Gold Rush Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Gold Rush

Today I have been watching burly men
with heavy machinery despoiling Alaska
in a hunt for gold, and when they have gone they will leave
the heavy footprints of a man behind; a mutilated landscape!
The mining companies are doing the same in Africa
for their relentless hunt for riches, but all we see is boardrooms
and nice suits legally plundering the land.
Where I live no one is interested in the olive and carob trees
the soil is meagre suitable for beans.
So, for now, we can dwell in peace.