Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Stephen MeadApril 21, 2022

We are letting go.
We can no longer care to feed you.
At nine a.m. cages, nets, moats, terraria
                       will be opened to effect your egress.
Water-bound creatures, the mammals at least,
                       be sent to our inland seas.
Insects let loose, amphibians too, reptiles and birds
                       arachnids, rodentia, lagomorpha, chiroptera—
Say goodbye to your names, your classifications, families, groups, kingdoms.
Because these are the New Dark Ages we must forget Latin again.
Only remembering the words for master and servant.
We are taking all our languages back to forget them ourselves.
Of course, we will still have your bones, your teeth, some of your ancestors in
amber.
Things that require no care. We will forget about them soon enough.
We want to thank you for the pleasure you have given our children when you played with your
children.
Thank you for bringing tourists to our town to spend their money here.
Thank you for never complaining about being in a cage.
We do not care that you have never thanked us.
We are sorry we cannot send you back to your native land or water—
Not that you could survive there any better, but still….

So, go. Go without names.
Go without numbers.
Go without knowing why.
Just go.

The latest from america

Edwin O’Connor, whose life and literary career were abruptly cut short by his 1968 death at the age of 49, captured the imagination of his audience like few other authors of his time.
James T. KeaneMarch 28, 2023
People sit in pews at Catholic Mass service as Bishop J. Mark Spalding in purple vestments consecrates the Eucharist in the background.
Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of the Incarnation on March 27 to pray for the victims of the school shooting that morning at The Covenant School.
Father Luis Melquiades outside the Our Lady of Mercies chapel in Mercedes de Oriente, Honduras. Photo by Kevin Clarke.
In Honduras, subsistence farmers on the small parcels around the village struggle with erratic growing conditions because of climate change; the people are pressed by poverty and hunger. For many in small towns just like this, there is only one option: immigration.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2023
several protestors hold a sign that says justice is truth in action
On the final episode of this season of “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” Gloria welcomes Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts to discuss the subject of anger and forgiveness.