I creep beneath the thick canopy, hidden in the green
The humid, wet air calling amidst the howls and screams
Emerald green jungle, impenetrable and blocked
Each tree, looming and massive in the dark
A canopy of hues of green and brown
Dotted with the flowers of a place unfound
The roaring falls and the clear blue ponds
Rippling and reverberating like the calls of birdsong
The orchids and bromeliads that fall softly to the ground
They float by the ant lines that I am careful to not plow
The bees, they buzz by the brightly colored butterflies
Among the sticky trees and plants that silence insect cries
I prowl carefully, quietly, through the mud and the decay
The fallen leaves that drift from the tree tops so far away
I hear the drops of rain, the howls of the monkeys
The flutter of wings, the buzzing insects, the rustling leaves
The rainforest screams with life, with the millions it keeps
And we cannot let its life fade and bleed
I press carefully through my territory, my place
The jewel-toned parrots, the poison frogs, they leap away
For within these thick canopies I look up to the sky
Under the chimpanzees and kinkajou who swing by
With the sweet rotting of the durian fruits
I lie in wait, among the fungi and mushrooms
The floor of the rainforest has long been broken, been unstable
Ravaged by your people, who use our land for the food on your table
They rip down the canopy, and my prey falls to the ground
And with it, the planets diversity, the home of many, unwound
The bushy trees, they soak up your toxins, your fumes
Only for you to razor cut them, felling green trees and pastel blooms
Where will we live?
Where do we go?
Where is my family? Do you know?
They are lost to the warming tropics, the dying forests
The heat unbearable, the rains more so
And it is not just us, but your people too
The Mbuti, the Chimbo, who live in phrynium leaf huts
Where will they go when you spill forest blood?
As they grow the cassava plants, and you eat it all
Poisoning our canopies, our waterfalls
How do we survive, when our green world has lost its breath?
It sang once with colors , but will it soon sing of death?
The vibrant haven which I stalk hidden, one of many
Will you take it away from us, from yourselves so readily?
For with each fell swoop, I lose more of my home
And the world loses the green it is known for.
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