[35] Mal-adaptation, Patrick Theron Erickson

 

As for adaptability
take the birds
who take to the air
and adopt air travel
without avionics
a flight suit
or a helmet

Or consider leaves
which are aerodynamic
to negotiate air speed

and so constituted
as to produce fair air
out of foul

upon which
we air breathers depend
and without which
we are not

though we are
each in his biosphere
none the wiser
for taking the air
for granted

and hence the heavy breathing
each labored gasp.