(listed as extinct in 2018)
Little black-headed song
bird, discovered
only recently—1973,
the year Secretariat won
the Triple Crown—so much
relentless muscle
racing a circle
while this cryptic bird
flitted up Haleakala’s
steep slope—moss-tangled,
dripping ferns—snapping up
snails and waxworms.
Now imagine this:
a last ditch effort,
venturing across
the volcanic crater
with padded boxes,
hoping to catch
the last three
specimens—perhaps
a breeding pair—
256 birds captured, but no
Po’ouli—fifteen years
later they would declare
the bird extinct—another
in a long line lost
to invasive species,
disease,
and habitat destruction.
The people who tried
to save this little bird
are immune
to despair—
they suspend
themselves
from ropes,
pollinate flowers
when the pollinators
have died—
they trek
the rainforest
playing calls
from long dead birds,
but you, little bandit,
refuse the call—
there is no hope
but we can’t help
ourselves,
we believe in miracles—
a songbird waiting
to be discovered.