A Letter to the (Nearly) Extinct

Dear Rhinos & Friends,

I’m sorry.

Sorry for the pillaging.

Plundering, pilfering.

Robbing and raiding.

Destroying and deforesting.

I’m sorry that we ransacked and took.

And took.

And took.

And take.

*

I heard

Between Sumatran and Javan

You only have 150 now

But we have 8 billion so

I hope you can understand

We only thieve what we really need.

And need.

And need.

And want…

*

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry we took your food.

Fruit and shoots and twigs.

And even your mud.

Because our greed wrecked the weather

And poached you(r rain).

Your rain.

Your rain.

Our rain.

*

We need

Factories and oil.

Natural gas, coal,

Plastic, copper, and cobalt

But don’t you worry because

We’ll be better, greener tomorrow.

Or tomorrow.

Or tomorrow.

Or tomorrow…

*

I’m sorry.

That we reviled the righteous.

Whitewashed the warnings.

Weighed our options and

Decided your lives are not

As essential, as consequential

As ours.

As (t)heirs.

As ours.

*

But we

Have huge brains, great ideas.

We can change the world!

But you? What can you do?

You are only capable of

Harmonizing the ecosystem.

Balancing it.

Protecting it.

Restoring it…

*

Please pass

Our apologies to your

Sibling, Western Black and

Cousin, Javan Tiger

They were lost so recently

You might even remember them but

We cannot.

We forget.

We forgot.

(In)Sincerely,

A Human