This was always a world of just enough,

Always searching for the next meal, shelter.

Getting by took some hard work. It was tough,

But we found our fill. Still, we wanted better.

We got addicted to the search for best.

Like an addict, we learned to kill for a fix.

Now we cannot stop, now we cannot rest-

We still need more, we have become transfixed.

I’ll have one more child, I’ll kill one more “pest.”

I’ll burn one more lump of coal, barrel of oil.

I’ll cut down one more tree, one more forest.

Until, for one more, seven billion toil.

One day we’ll reach for one more, find one last.

There will be one final breath, one final gasp.

Written circa July 2013.

(picture found here: https://goo.gl/joNSJl )