We are the invasive species
our ingenuity a double-edged sword
our salvation and our undoing.
The invention of plastic
revolutionized our world,
but now kills the streams and oceans.
The invention of the engine
gave us mobility
never before thought possible,
but exhaust has choked our planet and warmed the air
Poison the mouse… poison the food chain,
poison the hawk and the eagle.
Kill the weeds and poison the ground water.
We drown out the natural order,
more than Zebra Mussels and Emerald Ash Borers do…
these species that we inadvertently brought into new environments
where they could grow unchecked.
We also grow unchecked.
Often, this growth is measured in dollars,
which to nature, makes very little sense.
We are owners before we are stewards.
To our credit, we didn’t always know
that our greatest inventions would
threaten the natural order, and possibly
our very existence.
We are the most invasive species of all.
Are we smart enough to undo what we
were smart enough to start?
I have a feeling this earth will live on after us.
Some way, some how
just as the world lived on after the dinosaurs
breathed their last breaths.
—
Linda Haslanger is an emerging poet. She last wrote forty years ago. The passing of her mother and her creative writing teacher in 2023 inspired her to start again. She lives in Indiana with her husband and her dog, and she has two grown children.
