Amanda Rodriguez
Destroyer of Worlds
Cities are cysts squatting on soil.
Oil pipelines slither under the earth,
Parasites endlessly pumping,
A blood transfusion that
Feeds death.
The gleaming, white unicorn horn
Of glaciers dissolve into myth.
What about the unknowable beasts of the sea?
Shark and whale.
Walrus and manatee.
What about the lush plumage of
Dwindling green forests?
Bees, birds, and butterflies,
Sipping from buds,
Bathing in pollen.
Where is our memorial to the dodo,
That sweet, trusting bird?
To the ancient cypress tree,
Its knobby roots cleansing brackish water?
To the dried-up river,
Where now only lives the
Mournful howls of desert winds?
Every human being is an Oppenheimer.
On our DNA is imprinted,
“Now I am become death,
Destroyer of worlds.”
Amanda Rodriguez is a a queer, first generation Cuban-American and an environmental activist living in Weaverville, NC. Amanda holds an MFA from Queens University in Charlotte, NC. Amanda’s short fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry can be found in Germ Magazine, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Mud Season Review, Thoughtful Dog, Rigorous, Stoneboat Literary Journal, Cold Creek Review, Change Seven, The Acentos Review, Label Me Latina/o, Lou Lit Review, Scalawag (upcoming), and NILVX (upcoming).
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