cy gets flight shamed
London, Paris, New York, Milan
When it came to travel Cy was the man.
Gdansk, the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan
He’d been to them all, the travellin’ man.
Venice, Geneva, Turkey, Japan,
Cy was one insatiable travelling man.
Where ‘er he flew, Moscow, the Bahamas
He collected a pair of airline pyjamas.
Airlines, airports, lounges too
Served our Cy, who felt he knew
A thing or two about the world
He’d seen new country’s flags unfurled.
He’d eaten sushi freshly prepped,
Drunk yak’s milk, munched through crepes
Atop the Eiffel tower on Bastille Day,
With many photos recording stay,
Had to keep moving or felt he’d die.
En route or at his destination
He’d post ‘bout every single nation
Collecting Frequent Flyer Points on every flight
Crossing new borders became his right,
Along with endless tax-free booze,
His epic trips ‘came worldwide news.
Airport lounges became his second home
Together with his mobile phone.
This all went on for many years
Until the day he read with fear
That ‘planes were spewing carbon dioxide
Into the atmosphere worldwide.
And ignoring all the media fug
Finding more new places in which to stay
Until that is, he went to Strasbourg
And met a young girl called Greta Thunberg.
She knew of Cy and said to him
What’s with you and this travel thing?
Why do you feel such inner-need
To pollute the planet, just to feed
Your selfish desire to keep on flying,
Now you know the planet’s dying?
Cy gulped and knew he was fair game
And hung his head, he’d been “flight shamed”.
Cy now lives in Tring and grows wild flowers
Listening to bird song for hours.
To him it’s now much, much, clearer
That travelling is a giant chimera.
He understands that if we are to save the planet
We have to kick the travel habit.