Sun Power, a poem about wasted energy by Wouter Roggen

Authors

Spain has good sun, as does the Karoo;

It falls from the sky in our vast Kamdeboo;

but whereas in Spain it is harnessed to yield

electricity, green, from both hillside and field

This is not just a bit, fit to pamper the soul

but significant portions of the energy whole.

In the Karoo wind pumps water at best

The sun heats the rocks and the soil for the rest.

So the asset exists, but we’re spending our cash

digging coal from the ground, burning it into ash,

which for each lump of coal can be done only once

whilst the sun burns our heads and we stand, like a dunce

gazing up at the plumes that blight our blue sky

where the sun, brightly shining keeps wondering:

WHY?!?

Wouter Roggen, 2010