bugastrophy poem #1
our cynical joke has been when
homo sapiens has done itself in
planet and cockroaches will be
all that’s left that’s now highly
unlikely a recent study shows
one third of our bugs are already
almost extinct the poles haven’t
even finished melting the other
2/3 will be gone in a century due
to CO2 warming and flagrant land
misuse so bugs will go before us
we won’t be far behind with this
vital gap in the food chain we need
bugs to survive I picture that last
cicada coming up after 17 years
looking all around, saying “uh-oh”
the last cockroach on her back
her six legs curled into her she’s
maybe muttering “whata bugger!”
©2018 Jacqueline Jackson
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2019.
