Ankalagon Poem by Kari McKern

My story begins with yours,
Back when we were all mouse-like,
Paper-clip large.
Warm-blooded listeners
In fur coats,
Brushes hanging from our hind legs.

And made lives
Snatching beetles,
Slumming from the lizards,
And dozing through the dinosaur days.
Back before that day the sky turned red
When the world burned
And then the great cold came,

And we mammals found ourselves
The last rats standing,
Inheritors of the come-what-may.

In the morning
Of our mammalian mega years,
In that great furry radiation,
I came to be and roared!

Chasing vegans,
My rough love
Taught them swiftly.
So I hoofed up,
Well shod for the chase.

And now proudly I watch you all,
My favorites morphing to mouse-deer.
Harder to catch,
Hiding in the river,
Holding their breath.

And the social climbers,
High on fruit,
Falling less often.

But for a forever,
I am Ankalagon,
Master of the Earth.
Etched in stone,
From when I ruled alone.


©Kari McKern 2023