Written Word poetry
In Memory of an Island Species She had a given name —Gump— & a secluded home— Christmas Island. She was the last known member of her species: an individual
known to scientists & keepers as both a friend & an endling. She received close attention & affection from humans after losing her reptilian kin. She was a lone Christmas Island Forest Skink (Emoia nativitatis). It was January 2014 when scientists put her on a list of Australian threatened species, classifying her kind as critically endangered. Humans combed the rainforests coating Christmas Island’s 135 km² area
Bio Michael J. Leach is an Australian academic and poet who lives on Dja Dja Wurrung country and acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land. He teaches and conducts research at the Monash University School of Rural Health. Michael’s poems have appeared in Jalmurra, Plumwood Mountain, Rabbit, Meniscus, FIVE:2:ONE, Cordite Poetry Review, the Medical Journal of Australia, the Antarctic Poetry Exhibition, and elsewhere. His debut poetry collection is the chapbook Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020).
in search of a candidate mate who was nowhere to be found. Gump was found lifeless on the eve of winter 2014, mere months after her kind was belatedly
Links Twitter: @m_jleach Instagram: @m_jleach
listed as critically endangered that past summer. She left us a legacy & a lasting lesson.
Note: This poem first appeared in Jalmurra © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.
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