afraid of smoke casting its shadow
will the groundhog brave
the freezing wind?
will it refrain from inhaling
and exhaling the smoke
of exploding refineries?
will it protect its ears
from the disconcert
and the disconcern of bipeds
with their smugged out brains
undertakers of horizons
stiffly raising arms
to hold this bier of a planet
slithering their way
to exotic atmospheres
as the algorithm speaketh
in forked tongues
pronouncing a sentence
on the sentient
and the inorganic alike
alighting on the wings
of the long extinct
birds of purgatory
reserving for us
not the flicker of a candle
not a word of expiation.
Pina Piccolo, Benicia, February 1, 2025
Cover image: Photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)