It is the oldest riddle never solved / The cypher written in the endless primes / And secrets of the stars that do revolve / That mocks my wit, and steals away my time. / The curse of those elusive complex roots, / And this shape’s area, that angle’s size, / And “trivial” things I cannot deduce, / Does hours and hours futilely vaporize.

“Facing Extinction.” This slogan was printed on the shirt I was handed upon arriving at a local pre-UN Climate Change Summit strike. I, like many other Americans, attended a local rally to demonstrate my support of my city’s green participation as well as my individual contribution to environmental activism.