Off The Coast Of South America Poem by Howard Lieberman

Off the Coast of South America

They are beginning to dismantle
the Galapagos. A tanker
near by spewed oil, coating the shallows
with an immiscible layer of black deadliness.
First it smothered their wondrous turtles.
Then those endless variety of birds
which Darwin described, dipped their wings
in it, giving new meaning to the expression,
“tarred and feathered”. Lizards slithered,
stood gaping at the discolored ocean.
Now, despite all of its technological advantages
the world is playing “catch up”, bestowing
its ubiquitous despoliation
upon this unique, hitherto untouched corner.
The central Equadorian government
is disturbed. Arms fluttering, sputtering
senators pace hallways; there is a realization
that someone, or something, some alien or gringo,
is consuming their goose of the golden eggs.
They should, I think, be aware of the futility
of their efforts, should stifle their complaints,
assume an appropriate attitude of mourning. For mankind,
standing, in all its complexity,
and, in at least the mirror of its own opinion,
at the very apex of evolution,
will surely, once more demonstrate its capacity
to destroy every last symbolic trace of its predecessors.