Wednesday 8 May 2019

The Animals Decide to Become Invisible

Tigers went first, they were tired
of being accused over every cow
that went missing so faded away
to sunset stripes that shimmered
then were gone.

Lions, jaguars, leopards and cheetahs
vanished, chasing their fast fading prey,
their roars and growls hung
in the air for a while
then silence.

Polar bears slid over ice into virtual dens,
burrowing into new dimensions
where they met penguins
and walruses slipping equally fast
out of sight.

Fish, frogs and snakes buried themselves
in mud, wriggled for a time
then went still, while the birds
spiralled away
into cloud.

Finally, domestic cats prowled
down their secret highways
curious to know where the mice
had gone, miaows echoing
in our memories.

Leaving only pet dogs,
too obedient to leave our sides
but wondering what had happened
to all the smells
they used to love.

**
This poem was originally published in Orbis magazine a few years ago but I'm posting it here now to mark the publication of the Global Assessment report from the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warning that 1 million animal and plant species are facing extinction because of human activity.

4 comments:

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Sums it up rather nicely

Sackerson said...

I was reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer! It doesn't quite work but it's food for thought ..."First they came for the tigers... "

A Cuban In London said...

That last stanza is hard to read. We're doing this to OUR world. Barbarians. We are. Thanks.

Greetings from London.

Lowcarb team member said...

Thanks for sharing this.
Will we wake up in time? I sincerely hope so.

All the best Jan