Once was Eden

They reckon sixty million

once grazed the empty land

but in five years they were nearly gone,

shot down for cash in hand.

Carcasses left to decay,

bones to sell another day

while our flooding tide went west,

proud destiny so manifest.

We must eat all things we kill,

a rule we should remember still.

Instead we slaughtered them for fun,

a sin that cannot be undone.

While we wallowed in our greed

we sowed the wind with bitter seed

for whirlwinds we would never reap;

for treaties we would never keep.

Every part of every beast,

the people wasted none –

we took mainly hide and tongue –

we didn’t need the meat.

We thought our god had made the plains

a place we could exploit for gain;

no complicated scheme

required – a settler’s fever dream.

We’ve had our selfish fill

from earth; the bro’s must improvise.

Their friends are on the tarnished Hill

to help them spread their lies

that only they know everything

to free us from all toil,

but some who love the mad old king,

they’re backing gas and oil.

What makes the rich think they can do

these things they do to me and you?

Is there no end to just how much

wealth that they must seize and clutch?

Maybe when the last job’s gone

and with it joy for everyone,

amid the wreckage of our homes

there will be only pleasure domes.

With armed men outside every gate

to guard these architects of hate,

where they can look out on the void

that once was Eden, they’ve destroyed.