Crumbling into the sea,
we grasp our inheritance.
The one remaining link
lies deep beneath the waves:
Doggerland, a path that
mammoths dared to tread
before extinction.
Thousands of years dead,
bones are their only testament:
phosphorus to fertilise
our green and pleasant
land.
Kim M. Russell, 23rd September 2019
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille: And the word is…
Linda is our host for this week’s Quadrille, in which we write a poem of 44 words exactly including the given word: extinction. I’ve taken an older, longer poem, originally posted last March, and reduced it to 44 words.
writing in north norfolk 
These lines are amazing Kim. ‘Crumbling into the sea,
we grasp our inheritance.’ They set up the rest of the poem in a spectacular way.
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Thank you, Linda. I have also slipped a little political comment in there too.
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Yes, you did. I love it.
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It is amazing to think how we live on a planet that is built on all those extinct animals fertilizing the soil..
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There will be even more by the time we;’re finished with it.
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I love the idea of the inheritance, that link to the past, and our future. You have captured an amazing snapshot of the life and death cycle of nature.
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Thank you, Grace. I’m afraid my poem has a hint of the political too.
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I can’t make a real judgement without reading the longer piece, but this works really well as 44 words. Powerful imagery that packs a real punch.
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Thank you, Carol.
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It sounds like the white cliffs of Dover are crumbling into the sea and there will be nothing left….XXXX
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The North Norfolk coast is in such a bad state it’s only a matter of time…
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And — we probably haven’t even thanked the mammoths.
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Humans have no manners.
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Such an evocative poem, Kim. The crumbling connections, the lost path, the lost giants.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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the mammoth….the dinosaurs…..the carnage…..I think of the poachers leaving elephant carcases minus their tusks….the earth’s fertilizers. One wonders with climate change, oceans rising, water temperatures rising, how many more extinct species will occur under humanity’s reign…until humanity becomes the fertilizer as well?
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Nature looks after her own. She has already given us warnings and her patience will only stretch so far.
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We build our villages and highways upon the bones of civilizations long gone. Nicely put.
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Thank you, Bev.
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Excellent quadrille Kim, and great photo in support. Powerful beasts they were.
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Thanks Rob.
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Very compelling, Kim. It just occurred to me while reading this that the Earth doesn’t have much allegiance to us humans. When she’s done with us she’ll shake us off like a bothersome flea and then commence to rebuild herself.
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Thank you, Gayle. I agree.
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Nice lines: “The one remaining link
lies deep beneath the waves:” It will not be easy to find such a link.
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Thanks Frank!
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What magnificent animals they must have been! Great poem Kim. The final end of the ice age is coming fast as glaciers melt and fall into the sea!
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Thanks Dwight! I wonder if an intrepid reporter will record the last glacier melting.
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I do so like this one! “bones are their only testament”
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Thank you, Phillip.
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I love “bones are their only testament,” so much.
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Thank you, De!
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We seem sadly to be headed downward…will anyone remember us? (K)
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Probably not, Kerfe.
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We grasp at our inheritance… yet our legacy really is only so much fertilizer.
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It is!
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