“No More Ark”

Bruce Hanna   4.18.20

We are all islands now
far enough away
so the invisible 
cannot invade us

Sheltered in place
Social distancing
Physically awkward
Unsure, even afraid to touch

Most of us cannot imagine
how this happened 
or if it is the new reality?
Will it ever end?

But as biology grad students
we pondered this 
every afternoon
at coffee 50 years ago

A time of humans, microbes
cockroaches, and plants
balanced in symbiotic,
and parasitic standoff

And the zoo museums —
the No More Ark
of creatures that roamed free
long ago