of buffalo, innumerable, held sway,
a genocide befell these dull-plumed birds
whose flocks eclipsed the sunlight, day on day,
Up from the Gulf of Mexico they flew
each springtime, through the gauntlet of the gun,
to Great Lake woods where trees were getting few,
till billions of birds gave way to none.
The bellies of invaders, and their axe,
undid the future prospects of this beast;
their nesting grounds reduced to woodpile stacks,
while twice a year they shaped a settler feast.
This bird, by force of numbers, dimmed the sky,
till humankind ensured its passing by.