The original ideas for this poem stemmed from the antics of Donald Trump, US president (in office 2017 – 2021), who in 2019 turned up in the middle of COP25 to ‘grandstand’ and upstage the world leaders who had attended from the beginning, and to belittle Greta Thunberg and her now famous impassioned speech which acted as a wake-up call to the world. I feel the sentiments expressed still reflect the opinions of a large proportion of environmentalists today. Whilst many high-minded speeches and false promises are made to placate the masses, the world leaders are still playing for time and gain. Playing for time we no longer have, and bargaining with lives of our children.