We see and hear and read so much
about our environmental problems
but still ignore the elephant in the room.
We know so much about global warming,
air pollution, species extinction,
plastics in the sea - predictions of doom.
Yet still the tusker is unrecognised
in our worries about our ailing Earth
while we search for cures amid prevailing gloom.
But is it ours, this jewel of Earth?
For sure, humanity's so dominant
we treat it like some family heirloom.
Yet we have really stolen it,
usurped it with so many people
that other forms of life have little room.
The elephant is human population
and it's not enough to slow its growth;
we urgently need to reduce it - and soon !
Why aren't all the world's governments
keenly promoting birth control
with free contraceptive pills and condoms?
Will it need wars or worldwide plagues
to cull our rampant humanity?
Perhaps over-using antibiotics is a boon
for all the Earth's non-human life
if a global pandemic decimates
mankind one minute before high noon.
Is human misery on such scale
the ultimate price we'll have to pay
to enable a healthier planet to bloom?
Otherwise there'll be no room
for that ostracised elephant in the room.
