Against Mountaintop CoalMining, or, Sweet Appalachian Mountain Spring (yet another work in progress).





summa vidēs montis praecīsa, cacūmina dempta,
(pīnūs hīc steterant, crescit ubī lolium)?
umbrōsas sinuit per quercūs flumina rīvus,
squāmeus et lūsit gurgite grex tepidō.
Aspice, nunc latebrās ut compleat ārida arēna...

Do you see the top of the mountain, shorn off,
its majestic heights removed?
Here, pines had stood,
where now the darnel grows.
There, the brook unfolded its streams
between the shadowy oaks,
and the scaly flock played in the warm waters.
Look, how the dry sand now fills their haunts...