Upon The Shoulders Of Giants
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/magazine/the-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-on-earth.html
Photo by Simon Fletch
https://rhinos.org/blog/death-of-the-last-male-northern-white-rhino/
I’ll start this story at the beginningAt the Great Victoria Falls About one Rhino’s great descentAnd it’s relevance to us all I am the Red Billed Ox-PeckerUpon the shoulders of a giant here I stand And as my verses start descending And my vocabulary expands I speak from my experienceOf days pecking between the cracksOf the last Northern White RhinocerosPicking ticks and parasites from their backs I protected them from infectionFrom disease and irritationThey carried me upon their backsAcross endless plains and destinations I spent my days simply feasting On a range of parasitic creaturesWarning them of danger When predators got within two metres I spent so much time reflectingUpon the waterholes of lifeNow one last remaining daughterNow one last remaining wife Where black and white are not reflectiveOf their own outward appearanceAnd the colour used within their names Does not rationalise their disappearance What if white and black were actually greyWith only two remaining, in female formAnd if all life ended up this wayCould this become humanity’s new norm Could we say farewell so easily To a giant named Sudan? Could we survive upon this planetWithout our great white man? Man, the great dictatorOf how all lives rise or fallMan the great destroyer Man destroyed them all These last remaining creaturesNot black or white but greyI prefer to look into a lens And see our lives this way We orbited 55 million times Before Sudan reached his use by dateWhat a Jusrassic Mammoth length of time For this rare species to vibrate Did we get a discount to go and see himAs his shelf life bounded closer to its end?Could we buy one and get one free As days descended for our friend? The truth is as he neared his endHis actual value soaredHunted for his asset hornHis slow demise ignored Crushed-up into medicineA trophy hunters prizeThis is why this giant Was the last to close his eyes I stood upon his shouldersI had this privilege everydayIn his ear I sang a farewell song As he slowly passed away And now he’s gone except in memoriesI still feel him beneath my feetStill smell his scent upon my beakI replay these memories on repeat I’ve stood upon many creaturesBut my favourite was SudanThe last male Northern White Rhinoceros An extinction caused by man https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/magazine/the-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-on-earth.html Photo by Simon Fletch