Extinct in the Wild

A turn to matters of spiritual guidance

is not the talk we thought we’d have.

We’d packed our vegan lunches,

prepared for comparisons, calipers, scales,

slides in microscopes, pencils in notebooks,

to discuss breeding populations planned.

We arrived at the site, fighting the wind;

in tiny fragments lay scattered wet remains

glistening jade forms all falling prostrate

that once stood, facing the warm Mecca of lights

now strewn at random, open to heaven.

struggling, cold, undeservedly damned,

their jet-beaded eyes: some shining, some dimmed

nameless children we’d christened ourselves

terrariums shattered, their moistened air

now mixed with our mumbling invocations –

and nobody knows, to whom shall we pray?

published at Masticadores USA, Nov. 22, 2022.

Copyright © 2022 Leah Jay

All Rights Reserved