.
O Delta Smelt
O Delta Smelt of silver scale,
O threatened gem of fin and tail,
In brackish waters made just so
By crimson hands as ill winds blow,
Your saviors sing of Toad and Whale.
As fires rage and hydrants fail,
As houses blaze and hopes grow pale,
You swim beyond the eco woe,
__O Delta Smelt.
Imperiled pearl, when your ilk ails
All care for humankind sets sail,
Their burning needs sink way below
The fishy wish of those who know
The miracle of Quail and Snail,
__O Delta Smelt.
.
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Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
Susan, this is a perfectly apt rondeau for describing the idiocy of California politicians, and most especially of those maniacal environmentalist jackasses who made these wildfires much worse because they were worried about some goddamned smelt. To save some lousy little fish, they prevented water from getting to where it was needed to save homes!
I saw something else on TV. California was in the process of replacing its old electric power lines, and some stupid environmentalist was walking by. He noticed that some of the work crews were trampling on a small flower that was “endangered.” He called up California bureaucrats in a rage, made a big virtuous stink, and the bureaucrats immediately halted the work, The defective power lines were never replaced at all!
Remember that these brain-dead environmentalists are the ones who have prevented California from cutting back dry chaparral, clearing out dead underbrush from forests, having controlled burns and firebreaks, or doing anything at all that might disturb some stupid insect or rodent or bird.
And now that swiving buffoon Newscum wants to blame the entire catastrophe on “global warming,” or “factors beyond our control.”
Environmentalist fanatics are the cause of these massive California blazes. The damage and the blood are on their hands.
Joe, you have summed up in your passionate and informative comment exactly what I intended to get across in my poem – the wicked shame of putting creatures and their habitats before human beings is wrong – oh so very wrong. Let’s hope many more are seeing sense at the eleventh hour and are courageous enough to speak out against this insidious idiocy! Thank you for your wise words.
“Insidious idiocy” — I’m going to use that phrase! It’s both delicious-sounding, and exceedingly true in this case!
Cynthia, we are swept up in a sea of insidious idiocy – let’s hope the lifeboats come soon!
Dear Susan Ma’am,
This is a hard-hitting punch to the face of pseudo-environmentalists! Only you could’ve done it.
Thanks for standing up against them.
“pseudo-environmentalists” is spot on, Satyananda – thank you for your kind and encouraging comment. It’s about time we all stood up to these nefarious numbskulls and called these criminal cretins out. I hope you’ll join me with a poem of your own.
Excellent work, Susan. I literally just read an opinion article about Gavin Newsom’s environmental ideological idiocy before reading your wonderful rondeau (a favorite form for us both.) My blood was already boiling and it’s good to know I’m not the only one. I love how you’ve managed to turn a “fair form” into one dripping with sarcasm and wit. “All care for humankind sets sails.” Could any words be truer? Leftists of their ilk ghoulishly delight in the idea of human extinction. They secretly long for it because they think the world would be a better place without us. Just ask Greta.
Brian, thank you very much indeed. Your comment taps into this rogue religion and makes the goal plain and clear – “human extinction” – the depopulation of the planet in the interest of the chosen few, all wrapped up in fluffy words of care to make us feel warm and fuzzy about the worship of precious critters whose worth exceeds that of us earth-exterminating deplorables. What a crock of bollocks!
Well, done Susan, your words delight as they make the mind go to where the dead remains lay burnt.
Norma, thank you so much. Your wise and wonderful words let me know I got my message across creatively and clearly – and what a sad message it is.
Susan, this says so much in so few words. Your Nan would be so proud of the way you have taken her words and amplified them in such beautiful language and thought.
There is a stench that has slowly taken over states and institutions all over this country. It is festering in the minds of the easily fooled. It is the reek of bought and paid for experts. It shuts down contrary thought and common sense and replaces it with death-dealing poppycockery!
Who dealt that smell? We all know.
Thank you, biggest fan – your righteous anger spurs me on creatively. We make a good team. 🙂
Susan, your perfectly timed poem is scintillating to accompany the California wildfires exposing the inanity of what Dr. Salemi pointed out to be democratic politics under “Newscum” direction favoring a 5-7 cm fish of dubious value that may be extinct in their natural environment (see my note below). I had checked a couple of days ago on Google after learning about the California restrictions on using water and found: 1.) The Delta smelt was once common in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary, but no Delta smelt were found from 2018 to 2023″ and 2.) The Delta smelt is preserved in captivity at the UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Laboratory and in a fish hatchery near Shasta Dam.: Since the first quote came from a 2023 article, I presume none have been found in the wild since then.
Logic has eluded the Democrats, and you have so profoundly pointed it out. How much punch you packed into a short poem is exceptional and apt. I rejoice that my son and family moved from Carlsbad, California to Tennessee four months ago.
Thank you so much, Roy. It doesn’t surprise me to hear your findings on the Delta smelt. As we should all have worked out by now, it’s not about the smelt, the whales, the quails, the snails, and the planet – it’s about getting rid of the meek before they inherit the earth.
A rather fishy tale. Wonderfully wrought though.
Very fishy indeed, Dave. Thank you for your sagacious poet’s eye – always welcome.
Great poem Susan, as usual. If I were the devil, I would naturally blame a fish, or a flower, or some other part of God’s creation for the hell I’m unleashing on earth.
On a related note, if you haven’t seen this little skit, I believe you would enjoy it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnN1a8nNCwA
Yael, thank you so very much! I love this skit – and I firmly believe the devil has his finger in the Delta smelt pie.
A great way to highlight how mixed-up priorities are in CA. The worst part about this whole tragedy is that many people are likely to leave CA and relocate to relatively sane places like TX. When they do so, they always seem to bring their crazy priorities with them.
Warren, you’re so right, and I do believe Texas is hanging on to sanity by a gossamer-thin thread. Thank you very much for joining me in the poetic pushback against a society gone insane.
Yes, this is a problem that has not yet been analyzed fully. The same phenomenon happens when New Yorkers leave and move down south to Virginia or North Carolina because they can’t stand the horrors and bureaucracy and high taxes of a city dominated by left-liberal scum. But once they are down there, they continue to vote Democratic! As a result, a red state begins to turn purple.
I suggest that this phenomenon indicates what I have pointed out frequently: Left-liberalism is not a political opinion. It is a RELIGION. People can change their domiciles, but it is a lot harder to change their ingrained religious beliefs.
When someone says “I have to vote for what is just and right, even if it is unpleasant and harmful for me,” he is a member of the Church of Left-Liberalism. One result is the massive wildfires raging now in California.
Joseph, the problem in Texas is not the additional voters entering the state. The Democrats are in the minority here, however they are better organized and their representatives almost always vote as a bloc. Also, they have absolutely no problem with lying, cheating, stealing, murder or anything else at all as long as they win. Listen to our Attorney General explain to Tucker Carlson:
https://worldnews.whatfinger.com/2025/01/15/deep-state-just-took-over-texas-again-dems-vote-with-rino-low-lives-and-now-we-have-an-anti-maga-texas/
Mike, I fully understand about Democratic viciousness in Texas. Lyndon Johnson had his own sister Josefa murdered in order to cover up his corruption, and probably helped arrange the JFK assassination to escape having to answer for the Billy Sol Estes scandal. Many years ago, I and Professor Alan Gribben broke the back of left-liberal control of the English Department at the University of Texas in Austin, but it came at the cost of some of the most nasty and vicious fighting that I had ever seen in academia, and the Democrat politicians were completely in bed with the leftist faculty.
That’s a story that deserves to be heard.
You’re apparently unaware of the fact, dear lady, that the die-hard anglers of the world will do literally anything to not lose the unmatchable ‘fight’ a fully developed Smelt offers! I understand they’ve actually sank many of Hollywood’s largest yachts! Wonderful satire, one of your delicious trademarks – hope you’re feeling very, very well – 🙂
Mark, those elusive smelt of brackish habitat are responsible for an awful lot of devastation… by proxy. When a silver thing of fin is rated higher than mankind, you know there’s skullduggery afoot somewhere. The trouble is we know where… let’s hope changes are made soon. Thank you very much for your great comment.
Hey, I just realized that your poem is perfectly formatted to be sung to the melody of Oh Tannenbaum. This may become a new favorite Christmas carol here on the farm.
Since you liked the first BB skit I linked, I’ll link the follow up skit too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sncGpcfC2eg
I love your musical ear, Yael. Mike sang my poem to me in the melody of Oh Tannenbaum – how amazing. Your idea for the Christmas hymn has me smiling… and the skit is a blast. Thank you for bringing some joy to these trying times.