By Jake Cosmos Aller
The Humboldt Glacier, located high in the Andes mountain range in Venezuela, is the country’s last glacier. Glaciers are disappearing around the world due to climate change, which has also been a factor in declines and extinctions of animal species elsewhere. This month saw the death of George, the last snail of the Hawaiian species Achatinella apexfulva, named after Lonesome George who died in 2012, the last of the Galápagos tortoises. Write a poem about an object that is the last of its kind to ever exist, either in reality or hypothetically. How is the disappearance of your chosen subject significant in its own way?
The end of humanity’s reign
Of supremacy on earth
Came about with the death
Of the last bee on earth
Scientists had been warning the world
For a number of years
Of the dire consequences of the collapse
Of the insect world
Especially the humble bee
That played such a vital role
In keeping many plants alive
The bees were eaten by birds
And the birds were eaten
By other animals
Without the work of the humble bee
Commercial agriculture collapsed
Causing widespread famine
Across the world
Scientists rushed to the rescue
Deploying robot bees
An GMO bees
But to no avail
The fix was in
And humanity’s goose
Was cooked so to speak
And with the collapse of agriculture
Came the collapse of urban civilization
And the end of urban civilization
Led to billions of people
Facing starvation in the ruined cities
Some rich people bounded together
And build vast underground cities
Where they continued the experiment
Of robot bees and GMO bees
But nothing worked
And humanity’s long descend
Towards extinction began
It all happened within a few years
One day everything was normal
Scandals, wars, threat of wars
Economic turmoil
Endless infotainment news
Three years latter
50 million rich people
Were living in caves
Along with 150 million slaves
The end of humanity
Caused the rests of the world
To gradually recover
The bees were never consulted
They had no role to play
Just the humble workers
Who had fed the world
But they were no more
Plants evolved
Other ways to survive
And the world went on
Without the human overlords
Who remained huddled in their caves
Dreaming of one day
Returning to reclaim the world
Just as the bible proclaimed
