The happy whales that breach and spout and surface to slap a tail
had half a chance to escape harpoons during the age of sail;
now factory ships and motorised chasers are making the job quite cushy  
and the Japanese public is gorging itself on the taste of humpback sushi.

It's no go with the heaving on oars, no go with a shot from up close
as cannon harpoons drown out the sound of the cries of Thar she blows!

While pristine places still remain that man can as yet despoil
with coal mines, uranium mines and open cuts, and drilling for the black gold, oil,
while the corporations augment their wealth at the expense of a ravaged planet
and executives exploit the rest of mankind while their hearts stay hard as granite,

it's no go the sustainable, no go the cleanly attractive;
let's build up instead the nuclear waste, in a world that's radioactive.