Math Fright
I have always been frightened by math.
8,473 km,
5,264.878 miles
between Amazon
rain forests,
Greenland
ice sheets.
150 acres Amazon forest lost every minute,
78 million acres lost every year.
11 billion tons of Greenland’s ice lost,
1 day.
Is someone not frightened by math
coming up with the equation?
Is someone not frightened by facts
coming up with words,
chips of hope,
guarded guidance
amidst the burning,
melting,
miles of denial,
funereal distance?
Feature photo: U.S. Geological Survey
Len Shindel began working at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point Plant in 1973, where he was a union activist and elected representative in local unions of the United Steelworkers, frequently publishing newsletters about issues confronting his co-workers. His nonfiction and poetry have been published in the “Other Voices” section of the Baltimore Evening Sun, The Pearl, The Mill Hunk Herald, Pig Iron, Labor Notes and other publications. After leaving Sparrows Point in 2002, Shindel, a father of three and grandfather of seven, began working as a communication specialist for an international union based in Washington, D.C. The International Labor Communications Association frequently rewarded his writing. He retired in 2016. Today he enjoys writing, cross-country skiing, kayaking, hiking, fly-fishing, and fighting for a more peaceful, sustainable and safe world for his grandchildren and their generation. Shindel is currently working on a book about the Garrett County Roads Workers Strike of 1970 www.garrettroadstrike.com.