Endangered

What if a species was going extinct
practically gone almost KA-BLOOEY
and what if TV and the Times stopped
midmeaning and maybe nobody anymore said
three armed men
or six armed men
or nine armed men or anything about
any amount of arms
and what if TV and Time couldn’t figure the only
possible something to say or do about newcleaner bombs—
and so cameramen and reporters just stood around
because all they’d learned about making up news wasn’t
helpful and the story here was something
really something and they knew
just knew they’d never get it right before
the dead line, so
cameramen cameraed and reporters rumored
and mongered and griped about the going of things
and held their mikes out and maybe

maybe a cat or a dog or maybe even
a black footed ferret or a whale or
something that didn’t know hide from hunker
finally squeaked up and just
as TV’s all over the world winked
and winced blank
and Time’s paper curled crisped and blew away
like a shadow of chaff, maybe
that whale or bigfoot or whatever
started to say
good-bye.

Posted in response to the Daily Post Prompt Disappear

“Endangered” first appeared in the San Fernando Poetry Journal eons ago. It also appears in the manuscript Have, a book of poetry by Lee Robison, which has been accepted by WordTech Communications for publication under their  David Roberts Books imprint. We are currently working on a release date sometime in the fall of 2019.