None of it seemed to matter much
Always just more of the same human activity
Until no place is left untouched
Not the air or the water or the soil
Not so long ago none of this was here
Depending on your time frame of mind
And soon enough it too will be supplanted
As has been the way since forever
Nature is always an opportunist
In whatever way circumstances allow
As the anthropocene upends ecosystems
Species ranges will expand and contract
Every nominal native once arrived as a newcomer
Long before the invading colonists introduced their additions
Bringing intentional seeds and animals and inadvertent dispersion
Transforming the landscape and displacing the inhabitants
Clearing fields for imported crops and grazing herds
Incidentally creating a very different pastoral habitat
Becoming host to a thriving set of wildlife able to adapt to it
In the process of destroying the existing forest and prairie
Modern eyes may not see the disruptive past in agriculture
Blind to the ecological devastation that resulted from it
Opposed only to the most recent arrivals gone feral
Because we must grow our food after all
Of course it is not good when one species dominates
Like the burgeoning native deer population in the suburbs
Overbrowsing all the native plants and saplings
Leaving only the latest to show up they do not care to eat
We who find ourselves in the present circumstances
Cognizant of the broad sweep of human history
At this critical juncture for the future on earth
Need to understand ourselves as the primary invasives
For sure certain plants and animals are a scourge
And I applaud the energetic gardeners removing them
But I prefer the places where people are few and far between
To appreciate the natural world relatively undisturbed
