planet of humans

one stone too many
in the orbits of heaven
a blue pebble
in its distances
a droplet in its rains
of emptiness
and the hydrogen wind
the sun blows
with its fire
dimming

one swarm too many
in the shelved lands
where rivers wander
to the seas
and their cities
hives and warrens
are full
of maggots writhing
in the future’s
broth

one species too many
for a world to bear
if greed was quarry
if a predatory stoop
was the least of it

one stone too many
and mountains tumble

one more swarm
and the bough
it hangs on
bends

one more species
waxed then waned

here today
then gone
in a thrust
of geology

© BH, 2020

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This time it was a challenge from the XR Poetry Group: write a poem on ‘The Planet of the Humans’.

Well…

Had to dash this off. It had been a while and I, myself, passably human, had to put some lines together. If only to acknowledge our impermanence (and our delusion of competence).