I am nature,
just as much as the spider
living on my back window,
as much as the juncos
who forage on my stone patio,
as much as the young cherry tree
fronting our common courtyard,
and the water it thirsts for.
We share this place,
but my kind has bullied our way
to a pinnacle of rule
that now threatens the life
of all the others.
We clever undeserving masters
must bend our senses
to the habits of those
who live their humble roles
knowing they cannot without the others.
This is not something to figure out,
but to absorb as we humans
slow our pace,
loosen our grip,
and soften our egos.
We are not so much smarter
than our more than human relatives,
merely more aggressive.
We have run rough-shod
over the learned faculties
of the other species
as if we could outmaneuver them
without recompense.
But the jig is up.
Beetles are killing our trees,
sea urchins are devouring our kelp,
acid is poisoning our seas and coral,
elk are ravaging our grasses.
We are stripping our soils of nutrients,
laying bare our forests,
draining our water supply,
replacing unsullied air with methane and carbon dioxide.
Our brains are now being atrophied by AI,
with no indication that its pushers will relent
before our addiction renders us supplicants.
Can our mechanized masters
heed the revenge of our natural sisters and brothers?
Having so far failed at that,
it is time to reverse course.
We can.
