Empty Nests by Linda FullerThe dinosaurs received a rude surprise
losing survival’s brass ring prize;
still, from the tar pits mammoths rise.
Under a savage sun the lions languish;
of no use to them the antelope’s anguish
cast up in a spray of blood, its last wish
was just to be, forever, an antelope
dreaming, slipping away as men elope,
flying, running, slowing to a lope.
As new generations, new species supplant
what once was the dominant animal or plant,
who reigns superior: anteater or ant?
And did we wear our hearts upon our sleeves
or strew them willy nilly as a tree drops leaves
or drape them, pulsing, from the eaves.
And who of us will be left to remember?
Which stony entity, which special member?
What once capered as flame lies still as ember.
05/26/2010 Author's Note: This is written with "nested" or "diminishing" rhymes.
Posted on 05/26/2010 Copyright © 2025 Linda Fuller
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