by Douglas Lanzo
Copyright 2020

First published in Faith, Hope and Fiction (January 21, 2023)

Across ancient epochs, a wonder of the earth,
roaming Eurasia as land mammal of largest girth —
eight meters high, twenty tons in weight —
dwarfing elephants, who sealed their fate;

Out-competed for food, by rival trunk,
once vast forest supplies soon shrunk; 
that genus fell, but others rose,
with padded hooves and odd-numbered toes;

Some resembled hippos, with modest tusks, 
aquatic dwellers, chewing grass and husks;
others roamed the plains, with massive horns,
charging at threats that stalked newborns; 

Abundant species spread over distant lands,
mainly solitary creatures, eschewing bands —
growing thick horns and woolly coats,
throughout ice ages, sowing their oats;

Descended from thriving and storied kin,
now close to extinction for matted skin —
greed of poachers, and rich man’s pride,
decimating rhinos, their cruelty decried,

Slaying stationary rhinos, at watering holes,
horns detached at the roots by merciless souls —
shipped to Asia for prices higher than gold,
to vanity buyers with fortunes untold;

Peddled as a Chinese medicinal cure,
ground into powder to treat diseases obscure,
rumored to detect poisons and purify water…
all without merit, inducing senseless slaughter;

With northern White Rhinos functionally extinct,
fates of five remaining species are inextricably linked
to whether struggling Asian and African nations
can protect dwindling populations from devastation.

Time is running out for this unique herbivore,
once the most prevalent on earth, now in a war —
critically endangered, fighting for survival,
billions of years in the making, praying for revival.