GRIEF Poem: An Act of Predation, by Trezhur Avangeline

Before they started
by ripping out the roots
And digging up the land
There were people here

Before they gutted houses
to drain the memories
of what used to be
There were people here

Before buildings were
stacked so high that they
blocked the warmth of time
There were people here

Before they mined so deep
that their extractions
crumbled what wasn’t theirs
There were people here

Before their rot seeped into
sacred grounds, spoiling
the fruit before it could grow
There were people here

Before you continue your
destructive rampage, ruining the
remnants of those who remain, remember
There are people here