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| Photo by Molly |
At the End of the Cenozoic Era
The elements that compose us―
the particles of our bodies that have circled
since their violent birth the central
axis of the Milky Way weaving
themselves in and out of matter―
now for the first time, we're told,
have emerged in a form
that can contemplate itself.
Our 65-million-year moment
has ended ― the age
of mammals and flowering plants
collapsing around us.
An unknown era has begun.
Half the species slated
to perish. All vertebrates
anted up on the green felt
table of the earth.
On the radio, a woman's cultured
voice explains that by holding back rivers
with dams we've altered the speed
of the planet's rotation.
However so slightly, we've shifted
the length of the day.
She says without a hint of terror.
That's when I walk outside
to where my son pushes the mower
over the robust weeds.
The down of his lip is darkening
like a late autumn afternoon. Straight on
you can't see it, but from the side
a shadow gathers.
How can I begin
to grasp it: the Earth
in peril, my son's chest shining
like polished burl. His spine
visible beneath his skin.
The way before he was born,
when he was still
safe in the belly's sheath,
I could feel the exact shape
of his just-formed foot
pressing against the world.
― Ellen Bass
From The Human Line
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