Lucy's Riverine Forest

Looking out his window from thirty
Thousand feet, it appeared to him
Riverine forests seamlessly snaked
Seamlessly green toward the sea.

He couldn't make out the water at all
Beneath the canopy of treetops until,
Descending to land, he saw in naked
Slashes, burning, the rivers' banks.

But who was he to judge his fellow
Man? For him, Consumer, they slashed.
They burned. He'd paid them off. He'd
Have to point the finger at himself.

The naked river put him in mind
Of naked Lucy and her naked tribe,
Shaken and dazed with quakes dashing,
Rejoining, earth's jigsaw platelets.

It wasn't hard to imagine earthquakes
Grinding and thrusting Danakil Isle
On Danakil Plain again, rejoining
Her tribes to riverine forests again.

It was not hard to visualize Lucy
Foraging up a riverine forest
Down which ran white water
She could drink, fish and fruit.

Not hard to see her tribes spreading
West, south down Great Rift Valley....
If Lucy could see what her spoiled
Offspring do to her riverine forest!

Lee Jamieson

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