Extinction
Extinction
Original Text
Richard Greene, Republic of Solace: Poems 1984-1994
(St. John's, NF: Breakwater, 1994): 59. PS 8563 R3836R47 Robarts Library
1Motion within motion,
2Deep movement in the darkest waters:
3It is the primal wit in the sea’s heart,
4This creature that journeys out its years
5And propagates its simple appetites
6At the ocean’s floor.
7The curve and sway
8Of flesh and bone and fin,
9Infinite recurrence,
10And the instinct of a million generations
11Schooled in movement only:
12It cannot name its own passion for continuance
13Or know some place as destiny
14Where the wandering ends.
15Greed is an evolutionary triumph,
16Spawning new evils in humankind
17That were less than instinct
18In lesser life.
19The codfish,
20Who knows nothing but its way,
21Perishes in nets and mesh,
22Sunken mazes of unintelligible desire.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
Copyright © Richard Greene and used by permission of the poet.
Authorization to republish this poem must be obtained from him in writing.