Poems of the Week

Living Large

by Dan Campion

“Birds are dinosaurs. ”—Steve Brusatte, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

“[A] farmer spotted the fossils while herding sheep.”—Reuters

They dig each week from arid ground
Another beast, age so profound
It staggers us unused to such
Deep time, who do not venture much
Outside our own sad, savage era
Stained by ink and smeared mascara.
With signs of feathers, colors, wit,
These dinosaurs look custom-fit
To rule ten million years times ten
On Earth, then do it all again.
Instead, a vagrant star took charge,
Upstaging lizards living large.
They slumped off Earth without a word
And left it to the hummingbird.