Having a Deep and Meaningful Conservation

The irony of saviors — a poem

Perhaps giraffes should slow down their speed of living,

savor moments like riding in a truck,

moving to new grassland — the art of being saved

by the same species extincting them. There is the marvel

of soldiers in camo who chauffeur creatures

to a residence unknown, armed with water bottles

instead of semi-automatic rifles. The people on the ground applaud

the graceless grace of galloping animals

who do not know where or how or why

they’re running down the truck’s ramp; they’re running into grass; they’re running from the foreigners

who beam at saving something besides themselves.

I wrote this poem after watching this video:

While it’s uplifting to see the rehoming of these giraffes so they can lead a full and healthy life, and conservation is highly important, there is the supreme irony that humans need to save these beautiful animals because other people are actively killing them and destroying their habitats.

With every struggle on the conservation front, there are moments of hope like the video above and heartbreaking moments when battles are lost, such as when poachers kill iconic and beautiful elephants such as Satao.

My hope is that the good guys will outpace the bad guys in this fight. Ultimately, if we don’t, humanity will end up losing more than we know.