Geologic Instant

Ice sheets grow or retreat in a mere
one thousand years. 100,000 years
is an instant compared to 177 million
the dinosaurs were here. Some

adaptations take time to evolve: flight
in four separate groups, sight with depth
across the animal phyla. The concept
of empathy. How quickly the changes

when humans arrive. Do they strive
to wipe out all large animals as if
they’re in competition with an asteroid?
They come and conquer, burn forests,

extract gold and coal, and leave a mess.
Unwanted guests, here only a couple
of hundred thousand years, humans have
paved and cemented what once was wild,

diverse with animals and plants. They use it up
and throw it out, as if another planet waits,
ready, in shades of blue and green, where
the air’s still clean and suitable to breathe.