not one left to bury
no twenty-one gun salute
no flag draped coffin
no grieving kin in black
not even a discordant dirge floating in the
hot summer wind
who would care
who would care for a
tombstone that said:
“martyr in the war between
humans and earth –
bramble cay melomys –
first mammal killed by
human-provoked climate change”
leave a clock there
leave a clock where the
tide can’t reach it, for a while,
the countdown has begun
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/first-mammal-extinct-climate-change-bramble-cay-melomys/
The bramble cay melomys is reportedly the first mammal to go extinct on account of human-caused climate change events.
THOUGHT PURGE 
powerfully prophetic, and elegantly simple: somehow fitting for the unspoken tragedy portrayed.
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Thank you, Frank.
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My pleasure 😇
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My pleasure, Rajani! 🙂
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Wow! This is well written.
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Thank you.
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Alas.. and not only from climate change… the countdown for our own death… and only afterwards new species will grow.
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If we don’t take action now, it could be disastrous indeed.
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Oh, what a poem!! You always amaze me, never fail.
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Thanks so much, Annell. That’s so kind.
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This speaks to me so urgently. They say a MILLION species will soon go extinct. Yet governments do sweet nothing. They dont realize : we are on the endangered list too. A powerful poem, Rajani.
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Thanks so much, Sherry. Yes, it is quite deafening – the silence of inaction.
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I don’t believe all the climate change hoo.hah but it’s a good poem
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Well, the science is quite clear on the dangers. Would only benefit us to understand and act urgently.
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This is so devastating! The first in a long line of extinct creatures from our once abundant planet. It is a crying shame.
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It is… and it’s high time we start fixing everything we’ve messed up as a very destructive species.
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The first martyr in that war died a bit ago most likely. I wonder how many more need to die before anything of substance gets done.
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True…. sadly many more species will be long gone before this is fixed..if it is.
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So powerful. One to pass around. Or send as an obituary to the paper. We are at war with ourselves and our fellow species.
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Thanks so much, Colleen.
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I hope mankind realizes the severity of the situation before its too late..
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Me too…. !
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As usual, beautifully stated.
I think the tide seems to be coming in fast…. 😦
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Yes, I agree… we are running out of time…thanks, Rosemary.
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Ohhhh devastating. While all the war men play their money games, this is the consequence and only the terrible beginning. Thanks for your appropriately hard-hitting poem.
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Thanks so much, Marian.
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Powerfully said. 🙂
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Thank you, Celestine.
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The countdown has begun, indeed. A scary world you depict in your poem, hopefully we can still save ourselves.
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I believe so, if we listen to the science and take action. Thanks, khaya.
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Your poem may be the ticking clock–or the possibility of holding back the tide is over. What a spare poem, a dirge, a dagger straight to the point of numbering one, two, three … until the extinct species is we.
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We seemed to have reached the brink.. now it will take everything we have to pull back- they say the next decade or less could make the difference. Thanks, Susan.
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There’s another image–pulling back on horses galloping toward the cliffs–maybe even horses pulling the chariot of biodiversity.
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Yes… just in time, hopefully 🙂
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Indeed. Who would mourn the lass of some small rodent. Anyone with a heart would, before we end up growning ourselves.
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Yes, we do need to think of how serious it is and be part of the dialogue and solution. Thanks, Toni.
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A powerful poem, and sadly it is quite true.
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Thank you, Carrie.
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The countdown has begun, and too few are waking, especially leadrs who care for profit and reelection more than the survival of all that is. It is hard to fathom. I applaud the leaders who recognize the climate emergency.
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Yes, now if they act and lead the way, hopefully all others will follow. It’s high time.
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Ha I also used ‘ticking clock’ today.
Till now people, specially in India are not aware of this calamity. So tragic.
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Yes, unfortunately it needs to be at the forefront of dialogue and action. I’m seeing some countries term it a climate emergency and they are quite right.
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Sadly I agree with your sentiments here and my post is also on this theme. We are our own worst enemy in destroying this world.
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W should be in crisis mode, fixing this – instead we’re going merrily along as if nothing is amiss… it’s terrible.
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