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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.
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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
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
listed as critically endangered that past summer.
She left us a legacy & a lasting lesson.
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).
Links
Twitter: @m_jleach
Instagram: @m_jleach
