by: Dustin Joy
Kids run up and down
the plastic tree,
puppets on their hands,
a polyester squirrel,
a rayon groundhog,
all made in China.
They stare at the bats
in the cave exhibit – Ewwww!
Look at the mummy – Ewwww!
A flathead catfish rolls
in the lazy current
of the big aquarium.
Try to get children to care,
about the amazing evolutionary
achievement of the Compass Plant,
roots twenty feet deep!
Try to get anyone to notice
a plexiglas box in the corner.
The passenger pigeon looks out
with its oddly thyroid eyes,
its formerly vibrant plumage
dusty.
Once five billion of us
surged through the skies
un-ignorable,
a living wind.
Driven to extinction by greed and
ignorance and apathy.
The bison nods from across
the room.
“I feel your pain, Dude.”