Surrender 
the whales to their 
extinction. It can’t be helped.
We have better things 
to do. Bigger, better,
ocean-churning fun
and commerce to ply. Why,
let’s give them up and 
keep going. We can, we
should. 

Abandon
honeybees. It can’t really 
be stopped now, can it?
Can’t run around
catching each one
and cradling them in our 
hands. No fun in that — 
once again give them up
and let’s keep going.

Monarch butterflies — 
who needs them, those 
Halloween handkerchiefs
on the breeze?
We can make simulacra,
work them into some promotion,
turn them into seasoning for the season.
Keep going. We must, we should.

We can
surrender anything
we want. Surrender our
teeth, suck in our lips and 
see what falls from the open corners
of our soft mouths. We can 
teach ourselves to sting and pull honey
from the market as gardens
struggle to thrive. The kids
are going to love the memory
of butterflies, much as they
love dinosaurs. See how
we keep going for as long as
we can, as long as we are here.