Natural Selection

“… let the strongest live and the weakest die.”
~ Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

~ Hylaeus anthracinus

Who has seen the bees with gold-
smudged faces, the only ones

who can make sure the flower
of the naupaka continues to push

its torn half-crown of petals
into the world? Their number

dwindles, and soon the rest of us
in their wake— Who has seen

bees lolling in the waters
of the factory, their hives

hung in tapestries of Blue #1,
Green #3, Yellow #6, and Red #40,

their amber derived from petroleum
streams? The woodland bison closes

its eyes, and the graceful giraffe.
Soon both the banyan and the roses

shrivel, the crops in the field.
Whales and turtles crawl

into a silence of coves.
When this happens,

not even the birds may have
enough strength to fly away.

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