E: A Cheeky Birdseye View Of A Landscape Poem by Emancipation Planz

Not in our backyard
we do not want to be
diversity depleted of our endemic trees
They make me fly much further
over enveloped fragmented gaps
always stamped the same – don’t return back
and as for the message
Land ownership must be won
it comes at high price
when ecosystems come undone.

They traded in those trees -
Greenfields become neighbourhoods
and still they want more

I went looking for the landowners
who were sculpting up the land
Did biodiversity matter – did they give a damn?
what is there motivation
as they claim their private lots
Does insanity prevail –
have they lost the plot
- in Aotearoa? - their country
Split lands – descendants – many cultures – it’s all there.
Can I really fly by and pretend not to care?

They call it their safe haven
that surely will have to do
As they burden with their work
But do they pay for what they use? -

Replace that tree to replenish the earth.
Will humankind slow down an obsession –
that there’s always ample more -
BUILD new empires – repeats the mantra call.

They cater for the rich
as they generate more wealth
They talk of precious coastline
to be nursed and brought to health
- There is a correlation
- Blue sky and mean high tide
Economically driven
But environmentally priced

A thousand cuts - it bothers me
Self mutilation is always abuse
It’s the blood of many specimens
from terra to benthic blends
A cost that is too dear – can they make amends?

They make me fly much further
In the name of private enterprise –
growth to get ahead
and yet they polarise
It’s an economic drive but a pointless exercise –
of sustainable management

Their worldviews ebb in and out
on each and every tide
and on that ridge that should hold bush
their quality homes define
Anthropocentric wealthy
A space devoid of plenty
Yet there is much life still to come

As humans mould ecological footprints
I think of the dinosaurs run
sprawling out before they fall
yet the new giants had not yet come –

With their hegemonic actions
their affront was development traction
cumulative effects brought a hefty decline

Does not seem intelligent – as I glide up in the sky
What do I tell the new chicks about the decades of decay
caused by carving up the land
their ongoing deliberate mistakes
One or two trees won’t matter -
Each resident rationalised
Is it justified amnesia
Or a she’ll be right attitude

But if they ruin this, every species landscape
That’s Not yours or mine
My Cheeky Birdseye view won’t matter
If death is ahead of its time.