by Ann Howells
The last elephant
kneels in supplication,
polar bear’s fragile scaffold
trembles –
reliquary of gristle and bone.
How many species lost?
Glacial melt. Drought.
Earthquake.
The rainforest burns.
If this virus does not kill us,
perhaps another.
What will be left in the end
but the indomitable cockroach?
Man with his big brain,
opposable thumbs,
shoots a rocket to the moon,
ignores bones
gathering at his feet.