REQUIEM FOR RAINFOREST

i wrestle with rhinoceros
but no words will come

i hear tall tress crashing
wild birds screeching
the cow stampeding
but no words will come

i saw sawmills buzzing
cash register clicking
entrepreneurs chuckling
but no word will come

i hear press conferences
of petitions, of signatures
of campaigns and lobbying
but no words will come

i hear the rain pounding
into desolate spaces
the widowed wind howling
but no words will come

the rhino is boxed and crated
merbok and meranti are gone
above, no monkeys swing
from no overhead branches
below, a pangolin stumbles
around amputated trunks
an orphaned butterfly
surveys the wounded jungle

yes, no words can fill
this gash of malevolence
but a terrible anger squats
hugging its knees in silence.