Our Saviors

Animals save the world.

Animals uphold the world.

We kill the world.

We weigh it down.

We, pleased with ourselves,

Condescend to be kind to our pets

Whose salubrious, acrobatic, untiring silliness

Wisens us, cheers the sacred stone called Earth

And makes heavy Death forgetful.

Yes, the gabby globe is supported

On the back of an unboastful undying tortoise.

The worthy tortoise is supported

On the patient but unslavish

Castle-like back of a long-tusked elephant.

The long-tusked elephant is supported

By a blue never-harpooned whale.

The whale is supported

By a scholarly dragon.

Supporting these heroes

Is an untagged but inexplicably dependable cat.

She knows naught about size and weight.

She is a student of sleep

And experiments with play.

These healthy animals enjoy gamma rays

But they are not fanatics.

This may or may not be in our favor.

© Stephen Margulies, 2014

Cats, tortoise, and sea creatures
Painting by Jan van Kessel, senior
from Wikimedia Commons