I will never hear the rhythmic drumming
of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
US Fish and Wildlife Services 
announced its addition to the extinction list.

The ivory-billed woodpecker,
which roamed 12 states, Illinois to
Florida, was last seen in 1944. So the
move from endangered to extinction

was actually a bureaucratic move,
as was Bachman’s warbler, a deep Southern 
state resident that wintered in Cuba.
I will never hear that warbler sing.

Habitat loss: clear cut forests, drained
wetlands, poisoned waterways, 
expanding suburbs, poured concrete
to connect to the cities, all

contribute to the decline of species.
Many animals portrayed in ABC picture
books are on the endangered list now.
A is for Apes, B is for Blue Whale,

C is for California Condor, shall we
keep saying the alphabet from 
endangered to extinction? I fear
the last one dead will be a vulture.
                        

It’s the fiftieth anniversary 
of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon -
“One giant step for mankind.”
The kids are all wearing
NASA t-shirts, carrying
NASA backpacks and lunch containers.

I remember
the excitement of the Space Program.
Those first photos of Earth
taken from satellites circling.
So much blue and green,
a view of clouds from above.

When the fourth house
on our block put up an American flag
amidst the jingoism of July 4,
and the White Sox interrupted the game
to stand to Honor Military Heroes,
I felt I had to respond.

I went online and ordered 
a NASA image Earth flag
from the Syracuse Cultural Workers.
Our Earth from above
on a field of indigo blue
with no border in sight.