William Heyen – ⅦI

The Decision 

 

 

 

One day, in the hands of a corporation, the bamboo pole

thrust through ocean floor into a cavern of oil,

& the oil exploded upward through & past the pole,

thousands & hundreds of thousands of gallons,

tens of thousands & millions & hundreds of millions of barrels,

such volumes of crude that all the world’s coasts

blackened with carcinogens, wildlife perished, human beings

retreated inland to the last shade, strangled one another,

& choked out. Then, after timeless eons, bacteria began

to begin again, primordial forests rose, the oil subsided,

the earth became pristine, God wondered whether Eden

might be worth another try, decided, didn’t He or She not,

no, but then, didn’t He or She not, changed His or Her mind, or not….

A fish appeared, all gold among riverbank roots, & now

who do we see but that courageous ferryman, Mr. Tanimoto!