Irreversible

The oceans recede,
its  pylons exposed.
The great elephants rust 
in the junkyard they fell 
when Chukwa shifted.
Even his severed legs  
can’t hold up the earth-sky.
The sea grass stiffens
to a verdant wave,
curl exposing the horizon.
The ivory house 
built on the beach
(the one with the 
bench in back 
where children played
and the family picnicked,
the one with the 
red flame corvette idling 
on the cracked street)
disassembles in the  winds. 

Ponderings on climate change, ocean pollution and climate apocalypse.


The "world-elephants" are mythical animals which appear in Hindu cosmology. The Amarakosha (5th century) lists the names of eight male elephants bearing the world (along with eight unnamed female elephants).  They sit atop Chukwa, the Cosmic Tutrtle