A Tyrannosaurus Rex Named Sue
(at the Chicago Museum of Natural History)
Hollow bones of a carnivore,
elongated teeth that tear
jaws that crush
bird-like hips,
claws that rip the dead and the living, the holy
terror
of the flesh of creation, bubbled-up.
For millions of years-dominance
now dust
as though eternity wears only one design of skin.
Resurrect bones of the past and discern
a future’s prints.
Could Sue smell a meteoric disaster
coming in the sky?
And what of us?
Will our own inhumanity, our own technology
mushroom us?
Or will we escape long enough to finally learn
to care enough?