Bulldozer, Spare that Mountaintop

bulldozer, don’t level that mountaintop
don’t silence the sweet sounds of songbirds
by uprooting woodlands and ancient forests
in which thrushes and mountain bluebirds nest and sing
don’t bulldoze into oblivion the abode
of red foxes, beaver and flying squirrels
backhoe, spare the cliffs and overhangs
where eagles, falcons and hawks build their nests
dump truck, where are you taking that topsoil?
will it be used to construct the foundation
of a parking lot in a suburban shopping mall
built on land that was once a flourishing meadow
teeming with tall grasses and flowers and wildlife?
the acrid odor of asphalt permeates the air
signaling that the metamorphosis–from
mountaintop to parking lot–is complete
bulldozer, you should have spared that mountaintop

This article was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2021 at 8:03am and is filed under Poetry.