(A large data center is being built in the aid region of New Mexico, this is the subject of the poem)
The land is parched, the trees are dying
The river is mostly sand, its aquifers are drying
But the inexorable march of technology continues here
A massive data center is being built, inciting fear
Of worsening water shortages for agricultural use
Residents wonder why powerful companies had to choose
This semi-arid land to build a project that obligates
Large amounts of water to cool down the servers it operates..
*
Deeper and deeper people drill to tap into the sinking water table
Searing drought, low snowpack and climate change have enabled
The drop in water levels- in this context building a data center seems to be
The height of indifference and tone-deafness to me
*
The march of AI cannot proceed without guardrails
Data centers cannot flourish where communities fail
To sustain themselves in the face of changing patterns of climate
The living world needs water- data centers can wait
Passion...unbridled 