Nate Maxson
The Last Ones
Uncovered footage of the last Tasmanian Tiger pacing in a cage
They named him Henry and he had a long life, relatively
But do you think that he knew that he was the very last?
Do you ever get the feeling that you might be?
It’s called endurance hunting, what we do, how we rose to rule the food chain
We would chase the animal after wounding it until it collapsed
They’re not really tigers, or they weren’t, but I guess it’s a moot point
Like the way you can disprove people who claim the moon landing was faked
By saying that the reason the flag they planted in the ground seemed to ripple in the wind
Is because even in the near absolute darkness of space, or the silent glow between the earth and the sun
There’s a light breeze
To keep you cool while you’re turning
They named him Henry and he had a long life, relatively
But do you think that he knew that he was the very last?
Do you ever get the feeling that you might be?
It’s called endurance hunting, what we do, how we rose to rule the food chain
We would chase the animal after wounding it until it collapsed
They’re not really tigers, or they weren’t, but I guess it’s a moot point
Like the way you can disprove people who claim the moon landing was faked
By saying that the reason the flag they planted in the ground seemed to ripple in the wind
Is because even in the near absolute darkness of space, or the silent glow between the earth and the sun
There’s a light breeze
To keep you cool while you’re turning
Nate Maxson is a writer and performance artist. The author of several collections of poetry including Maps To the Vanishing which is coming fall 2022 from Finishing Line Press. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.