Slippage

  We can’t terraform anyplace

except in CGI,

and then only

in time-lapse photography.

The infinitesimally 

slow grind of tectonic plates,

slippage that creates

mountains where earth

accumulates,

where birds drop seeds,

and the hills come alive

with industrial magnates.

Yet it never seems to take

us long to screw it up,

blight the land, foul the water,

spew into the air we breathe

all sorts of toxic

particulate matter.

We don’t see how we

accelerate the pace

we set to terraform

our own disaster.