The Earth Which Preceded Us

From australianmuseum.net.au

Insects are on your family tree. 
Ladybug ancestors and crustacean offspring.

A family tree is years of hesitation. 

From microbes to plants. A chain of
innumerable mutations. Flatworms and
sponges following the design of turtle arms.  

We are part of a family tree that is more than
a metaphor. The birds feed off our limbs. 

The Cycads and Conifers spread in every direction.
Damp, rotting, forests. The earth which preceded us.

George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, the Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the Havana Times, the South China Morning Post, the Buffalo News, and more. 

See all his poems on Tea House here.

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