Craig Santos Perez

 

 

Chamorro Ecopoet

ginen the micronesian kingfisher [i sihek]

                                                                ~

[our] nightmare : no

birdsong—

the jungle was riven emptied

of [i sihek] bright blue green turquoise red gold

feathers—everywhere : brown

tree snakes avian

silence—

the snakes entered

without words when [we] saw them it was too late—

they were at [our] doors sliding along

the passages of [i sihek]

empire—then

the zookeepers came—

called it species survival plan—captured [i sihek] and transferred

the last

twenty-nine micronesian kingfishers

to zoos for captive breeding [1988]—they repeated [i sihek]

and repeated :

"if it weren't for us

your birds                    [i sihek]

would be gone

forever"

what does not change /

last wild seen—