by Scot Siegel
First they’ll tell you how altruism squares with evolution
Then they’ll insist that you give to their cause
I don’t give a shit about the swans
alighting on a pond in Central Park
Or young lovers admiring their plumage
and occasionally glancing at the swans
Don’t tell me there’s no hunting in this city
and that the peregrines are on the mend
Don’t send me tweets or blogs on their eggs
Just beat them and serve them up raw
The pediment of Saint Mary’s is plastered with shit
The sidewalks are pleated with more of it. Pigeons!––
I have no interest in avian statistics
or the decrease in rodent-borne disease
Let the trout streams of the Catskills go rancid
Let the windmills grind off the cape
I’m not responsible for oil in the loop current
or the pelicans’ uncertain fate
And I certainly don’t believe in de-oiling
anywhere in the United States!
Lets just agree to disagree
and plug that god damned gusher
Scot Siegel lives in Oregon with his wife and two daughters. He is the author of three volumes of poetry: Some Weather (Plain View Press, 2008), Untitled Country (Pudding House Publications, 2009), and Skeleton Says (just out from Finishing Line Press). Another full-length collection is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry in early 2012. Siegel serves on the board of trustees of the Friends of William Stafford and edits the online poetry journal Untitled Country Review.
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