Out of Context

Out of Context

by Betsy McKenzie

Pop me in a metal tube,
Fly me through the air.
Move ahead or behind the sun,
Drop me some new where.

The sun's too bright!
The air is too warm.
I'm in the wrong place,
Wrong time, bad alarm.

There's something wrong
Inside of my head;
Connections
Fraying thread by thread.

I've jerked myself
Clean out of context.
Traveled too far, too fast.
Take time to correct:

Feet on the ground,
Head in the sun,
Time will help make this
Land and me one.


March 18, 2007

Hawaiian Eulogy




Hawaiian Eulogy
by Betsy McKenzie

Hawaii:
Island fastness
In long isolation left
A specialized ecosystem.
Now, hollowed out, with attacking
Visitors, invasives that
Swallow native
Species.

Eco-death:
It all began
With canoe species brought by
Far-sailing Polynesians.
Then, accelerated by our
Speeding planes, shipping in new
Exotics that
Spread far.

Remnant:
So little left
Of the thriving network
Built by explosive speciation.
Sing a dirge for all that’s lost:
Extinction is forever.
Gone from the skies,
The land.

Feb. 25, 2007