My Santiago

(ii)

No Elephants today; Nor can I cope with Dolphins, Whales.

Too large, too consequential; too noble, too few,

Too reminiscent of our deaths.

But time enough for them too

at the hands of others,

and once removed from guilt

we can wring our hands, wring our hearts,

And excuse ourselves

as being too far, too removed, too impotent, too apathetic;

Except for the truly sentimental times

Where our gorge rises for brief moments,

And we petition and pillage the immediate ‘monster’

but are monsters, equal monsters, nonetheless.

(iii)

Maybe cane toads today on wet gleaming roads,

(Transfixed!)

And then our goals become

Aspirational, (buzz word),

As we bulldoze habitats,

Dam waterways,

Coax species

to make that unprized list,

The endangered one!

Ants wiped,

Toads quashed,