It could have gone the other way
we’re talking full-on late capitalism:

cyberpunk-catching-replicants,
Hunger Games volunteer-as-tribute
to the churning machine of wealth.

It could have gone full bubble mode
where we never felt the sun on our skin
ocean life turned jelly.

It’s not a utopia. There were bumps
along the way and we let so much be lost
before anyone would agree to stop.

Kids think we’re making up dragons,
even with the old videos. They see no
difference between Tony the Tiger’s growl,

Tigger’s double guh purr and the roar
of the wild cat. Not many cats left
bigger than a bob cat. Polar bears myths

like mammoths. The facts of animals always
seemed unreal, but they’re more rumor,
slippery after the extinction rates tripled.

Still. There’s a lot to be thankful for.
We figured out what the bees needed
and we got to keep almonds, apples.

Bananas we couldn’t save and some people
were finally convinced that gods don’t exist
and were willing to cooperate. They finally told

us about the aliens no longer worried about
what would blow our tiny minds. Some of us
wondered if this had to be a last resort but

anyway what’s past is past. No use crying
over spilled state secrets. We got off this rock,
some of us. We rebuilt, but smaller, scrappier.

We learned to carve and weld and weave.
None of it was easy. None of this is easy.
But we do what has to be done. Our bodies

tired, sore after a day spent growing
we play music under the moon.