World’s edge*

It’s the sort of thing
you fall in love with
this bit of earth
this wisp of land
so narrow and thin you
only notice it
when you fall

and they know you
are there of course –
the geese –
they give notice before

the wigeons lift above
the wood ducks cry in alarm
and the ring-necks merely
float away

where the goldeneyes
whistle in the spring
and the goldenrod waves
in the fall
milkweed and caterpillars
waft in the wind

this is where guano
is fertilizer – the
planting of seed both invasive
and endemic
not a sign of disrespect
for the dead
although you cannot
disrespect the dead
only yourself

it is an increasingly lonesome
spot – out of the concrete
eye – the paved over
farm fields

but then she is always pushing
through – isn’t she?
those cracks in the wall
where weeds and seeds
take hold and
the living breathe again

4/2022

*From a song by Over the Rhine. According to a study published in 2018 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences humans account for about 36 percent of the biomass of all mammals. Domesticated livestock, mostly cows and pigs, account for 60 percent, and wild mammals for only 4 percent. Today, only 23% of land – excluding Antarctica – and 13% of the ocean remains free from the harmful impacts of human activities.