When the long drought comes,
scorches the hands of the healers
will we bandage them
with clean white gauze
so they can continue their work
and when kindness faces starvation
will we look into our pantries
and gather, quickly
to feed her
when the winds come
raging and spitting
and buildings begin to buckle
at the knees,
will we rush to the labs
swing open all the cages,
release the macaques and chimps and baboons and dogs and rabbits and mice and rats
finally,
finally
and will someone run
and free Adam Capay
and all the others
and all the plexi-glassed
others
and when the sea’s belly
swells and lifts us up
above rooftops and eagle nests
will we grab hold of anything we can
and hold its head up—
try to save it
The poem evokes horrid pictures of environmental disaster including cyclone and tsunami but at the same time passionately addresses the question of human responsibility to the fellow creatures at the time of crisis. The images of geological disaster seem to work on an imponderable scale and unsettle human consciousness. I have read the poem hundred times. I believe it will never lose its relevance.
Thank you so much, Robie.
Kelly
So glad to have discovered your work today, via Poetry Pause and your gut-punch of a piece, ‘Prince George Coffee Shop’. And equally happy to be directed to Reckoning. This poem from 2 years ago continues to be painfully relevant. Thanks for your work.