The Earth Exists No More

The Earth exists no more:
"'Twas unavoidable," they said.
"You can't stop a nova," they said.
"Nature must run its course," they said.

Yet well I miss the birds and bees,
bushes and trees,
lice and fleas,
apples and pears,
musical airs,
marble stairs,
Incas and Aztecs,
woven straw baskets,

For
The Earth exists no more.
"We must flee!" they said.
"Build rockets!" they said.
"Evacuate the world!" they said.

But what of
the ants and beetles,
grandma's knitting needles,
Gay Paree's Lido,
kangaroos,
wonderful zoos,
the hangman's noose,
the White House,
that little grey mouse,
MY house?

And
The Earth exists no more.
"We can't build enough!" they said.
"We can't all go!" they said.
"You can't go!" they said.

So the fights began,
then battles and wars:
it raged to all shores,
behind all doors;
murders and "suicides",
"accidents" and fratricides;
lynchings and patricides;
Jews and Christians,
Presbyterians,
all religions,

Died.

The Earth exists no more.
"Why couldn't we leave?" they asked.
"Why couldn't we leave?" they asked.
"Why couldn't anyone leave?" they asked.

And now, the Earth exists no more...

Douglas Anderson
1961