In the end
will that be all of us?
will there be another planet
we can run to?
maybe we can build underwater cities
or learn to live
oh well it's not the first extinction
it's the 6th
and life has always bounced back
with exhuberance
after only a few million years

I have friends
who've had enough of summer smoke
and the need to have
evacuation plans
and like some other species
that I've heard about
are moving further north
it's not like islands
lost to rising oceans
but even here in Oregon
there's a new restlessness
I know folks
who lost their homes
in last fall's fires
others who fear the ones
that may be coming
and who are looking
for a place where it's less dry
less vulnerable
as for me although I've heard myself
swear that this last move
would be in fact
the last and though I'm feeling
settled here in town
I can imagine if the summers
keep us shut indoors
thanks to the heat
or to the smoke from nearby fires
we might consider one last move
I hear the coast
is green as ever and the ocean
is where it's always been
at least in my lifetime