“When animals die out, the last survivor
is called an endling. It is a word of soft beauty,
heartbreaking solitude, and chilling finality.”
(Ed Yong) *

They Went “Gentle Into That Good Night” **

West African Black Rhinoceros, Baiji White Dolphin,
Pyrenean Ibex, Passenger Pigeon, Tasmanian Tiger,
Stellers Sea Cow, Great Auk, Dodo,

Camelops, Glyptodon, Little Swan Island Hutia,
Carolina Parakeet, Dusky Seaside Sparrow,
Mascarene Parrot, Lesser Antillean Macaw,

Gould’s Emerald, The Sloane’s Urania Butterfly,
Pinta Island Tortoise, Jamaica Giant Galliwasp,
Golden Toad, Tecopa Pupfish,

Zanzibar Leopard, Falkland Islands Wolf,
Javan Tiger, Monk Seal, Koala Lemur,
Desert Rat-Kangaroo, Pig-Footed Bandicoot,

Dusky Flying Fox, Saiga Antelope,
The Northern White Rhinoceros,
Quagga, Cape Lion, Mauritius Blue Parrot,

Tristan Moorhen, Saint Helena Giant Earwig,
Mauritian Giant Skink, Bluebuck, Giant Fossa,
Eastern Cougar, California Grizzly Bear,

Gull Island Vole, Newfoundland Wolf,
Bubal Hartebeest, Pink-Headed Duck,
Asiatic Cheetah, Giant Tapir, Cebu Warty Pig,

Ilin Island Cloudrunner, Japanese River Otter,
Queen Of Sheba’s Gazelle, Gloomy Tube-Nosed Bat,
Formosan Clouded Leopard, Ascension Night Heron,

Wrangler

You might conclude, wrongly, they missed the Ark,
but finding no other like themselves
and knowing God, having done what he could,
was resting, each one slipped into the night,
the only light a child’s bedside lamp, dimming.

It is for us, the grieving, to voice
some final contrition:
We did not know to save you.

For the faculty, staff, and students
of Logsdon Seminary,
Hardin-Simmons University.
And for all the others.

 

*Yong, Ed. “SCIENCE: The Last of Its Kind.” The Atlantic on-line, July 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/extinction-ending-care/590617/

**Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: 1934-1952, New Directions Publishing Corporation, Paperback, 1971, p. 128.