nobody lives there anymore

nobody lives there anymore


on this expanse of green, the trees stood tall,
the flowers in radiant colors freshened the air,
and birds sang, lions roared, crickets pitched
the stillness of the night unmindful of our ears,
as spiders crawled and webbed; the bees in
unending frenzy churned honey out of nothing

then men in hardhats came, brandishing steel,
digging holes, shaping bars, pouring concrete
building houses, roads; erecting poles; cursed
the stolid trees, trampled the grass, and shot
the deer, gutted the boars, caged the leopards

years later, a child living in a house in this
once expanse of green, asked:"where are
the trees?"

"son, the trees don't live here anymore"

on this vast expanse of blue, the whales broke
the waves, dolphins and seals jumped in glee
unafraid and free; seahorses raced through the
corals, as starfish cheered and jellyfish waved.
white snappers, blue marlins, sharks, urchins.
they abound feasting on the boundless recipes
of the seas

soon the sails came, silently at first, then big
chunks of steels powered by giant blades ran
through this vast expanse of blue, hauling in
anything that came across their way, big or
small, edible or not, and with impunity caught
anything

years later, a boy sailing in a yacht asked:
"where are the dolphins?"

"son, the dolphins don't live here anymore"

on this vast expanse of land, children's voice
reigned in every home; lovers walked around
parks counting their children yet unborn and
counting the years of excitement yet unlived.

"bless this earth. it has given us life and every
thing we need' water, air, food, clothing, will,
power, wealth, ambition, success, happiness,
thrill, sadness, joy, fear, courage, everything."

then we forgot.
we covered this expanse of land with hate,
we invented wars and the weapons of war
and we killed each other, forgetting we all
are family

we invented poisons, gases, that kill the air
we breathe; we used and abused what we
freely could take. we thought we could rule
over this vast tract of land by our own rules

years later, from a planet zillion of years
away, a child in a spaceship visited this
vast expanse of land called Earth,
and asked:

"who lives there?"
"son, nobody lives there anymore.
nobody lives there anymore."