HINDSIGHT
Art by GABRIEL SANCHEZ
WHEN HUMANS SWARMED
by MARCUS TEN LOW
When humans swarmed the Earth,
Breathing down each other’s necks,
Titillated, shaped as zooming crowds:
Our natures were bitter, some sweet,
Some replete with more and more children,
Churned-out like blobs from factories.
Setup with desks and chairs,
And a million brilliant material items,
Sat-up with a babyfied bewilderment of stares,
As we watched the greenwashed oceans,
Eyed by their blackish deadzones,
With poisoned fishes darting furtively.
Babies’ needs and wants, “chimey” songs
Flowed us into happy illusions,
Celebrated further in creamy advertising.
​
Despite such smiles, and baby sighs
With sealife thrashing in nets, pulled from
The wasting oceans, the oceans slowly rise.
Widespread obesity resizing, we relearned it
As beautiful, just as frankenchickens
Assumed their own neat sacrifice.
It was our grace, to say something nice.
Dr. Dolittle came over—we had a ball
Trusting that plenty more animals,
Nonhuman, were left in tracts of forest or ice.
The glaciers, dripping in sunlight, had shear
And shred, leaving so many gazes dead.
We really should do something now, we
know—
But eight billion living on the globe cannot
Be unlearnt. The Earth has not long to go.
MARCUS TEN LOW aspires to be “kind to all beings” as an ecological ethicist and artist. Hehas published many works in the field of animal rights and environmental protection alongwith being deeply observant of human character. He currently volunteers for the Animal JusticParty Qld in Australia and writes for Stop Having Kids. You can find him on social media (@antibreeder1m).
GABRIEL SANCHEZ, an artist, oil painter, entrepreneur, creative, and muralist whose strengths lie in his ability to bring ideas to life through visual expression. With a keen eye for detail, he has honed his skills, allowing him to bring unique perspectives to every project he undertakes.