Animal

A Climate Dread Poem

My body is animal 
I run from fire
I feel fear as movement

My mind is animal 
Instinct eclipses insight
I cry when I'm hurt

My eyes are animal
I see squirrels flee, tree 
to tree, deer striding with me

My skin is animal
Seeking cooler pools
Water, 
lick my wounds

My trembling is animal
Young clinging to my fur
Do not, I must not
Lose them

My nose is animal
Rigid and sensitive 
Tender green scent, confused
with blood and burn

My ears are animal
Attuned to my own kind
Alert to machine hum

I am animal
Wingtip to claw
Womb to exhale

Alive as animal,
Dying animal 

I’m from northern Los Angeles as much as I’m from anywhere. It’s burning down today. I write from North Carolina where I now live, and hurricane Helene washed away a city this fall. I feel a dread in my body that I don’t know how else to communicate. The artwork here is by Tyrus Wong, a Chinese American artist who did most of the artwork in the original Bambi film. You can read more about his life in the picture book Paper Son.