this is the end
a Permian style
extinction
brought to you by you
the opposable thumb
and big brain
a pestilence of
success, status
and the genius of necessity
driving the massive acquisition
the hoarding of things
robbed from life and
turned into death
no volcanos erupting
no meteors crashing into the crust
just the persistence
of invention over millennia
just the hunters with their atlatls
spearing mastodons into extinction
the invention of fire
will heat the greenhouse
it’s inevitable
hunters become farmers
agriculture sprouts cities
cities spawn states
lines drawn invisibly
in dirt borders set with blood
the fluid world gridded off
for ownership and conquest
plans made attacks plotted
enemies foiled
weapons evolved
nature cordoned off
slaughtered until invisible
on the trail, around the campfire
in the conference room
factories, corporations
maximize shareholder value
serving customer retention 24/7
markets mad for product any product
at any cost
GDP must increase
Growth must be infinite, in a finite sphere
this is difficult
rainforests cut for drive thru burgers
water for dumping oil waste
the sky for sewage
profits rise life sinks
capitalism capitalizes
shoppers buy shiny status
landfills of status
the industrial revolution
commits suicide
how many millions
for the atmospheric oven
the earth succumbs
it seems
but maybe only sleeping
or plotting to rid herself
of the scourge
when nature
was sold for trinkets and mirrors
and a bite of the apple
in exchange for
endless vistas of houses
shopping centers conjured
out of the boundless bounty
monetized until it was gone
ghosts of the forest haunt
the spreadsheets
justified by cost benefit analysis
and jobs working on the end of life
500 horsepower to get a bag of groceries
and pick the kids up at school
nuclear missile silos on guard
military might protecting the machine
nature chewed up and spit out
in vast universes of garbage
overflowing into the oceans
sunken cities, scorched farmlands
as humans breed in the vacuum
left by what they have made extinct
adding billions to the suffering
unseen by the privileged
driving blindly through the rules of nature
Jesus transformed into a con game huckster
the signs are everywhere
the warning lights flashing
the consumer train plunging slowly
over the cliff
imperceptibly inching toward
some future layer in the strata
threats of biblical proportions
a future already consumed by
the undying hunger
ignored as the plague plunges on
while leaders shun the warnings
stuffing wads of cash into
bloated pockets knee deep
in the ocean awash
on the decks
madmen at the controls
go full throttle into the abyss
the angel of
evolution meets the demon
of extinction
searching for something to elevate
to the high altar
atop the fast food chain
a drive-through
bloated with the rubble
of endless excess
profitable to no one
even those sinking into
the sea with their Rolls and Rolexes
already being recycled
by the cosmic junkman
at the end of the day
the end of days
and god rested