POEM: 'LOFTY FLAKE ANAGRAM'

LOFTY FLAKE ANAGRAM

When they culled the badgers due to
the supposed risk of bovine tuberculosis
I said nothing

When they killed the urban foxes
following a single freak-attack on a child
I said nothing

When they eradicated pigeons from the cities
because the ‘flying rats’ spread disease
I said nothing

When they ‘controlled’ the population
of ‘nuisance’ squirrels
I said nothing

mink and beaver erode waterways
dogs foul pavements, rabbits pilfer farm-crops
seals deplete fish-stocks, cats set up allergies
geese on airport flight-paths get sucked into jet turbines
moles disrupt your lawn and bats are just plain creepy,
best eradicate them in the interest of social health…

Now I awake and where there was a world
I hear only this silence that goes on for forever