FUTURE HISTORY

for Peter Russell

  It turned out when our species failed at last
  And proved the bane of life in Earth’s career,
  Concluding in one all-consuming blast
  That made our race completely disappear,

  We were succeeded in supremacy
  By mammals of a kinder, gentler kind
  Whose vast intelligence evolved to be
  Pacific and a wiser mode of mind.

  The dolphins and the whales innately knew
  What Jesus and the Buddha came to see
  And tried to teach us all, though very few
  Could follow them and miss catastrophe.

       Our fall was fortunate, but not as Milton meant,
       For clearly our demise was Heaven sent.

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