by Vanessa Proctor

Mosaic-tailed rodent,
long-whiskered,
tiny shells for ears,
glossy eyes dark
with the ancient
knowledge of survival.
Bramble Cay Melomys,
secret reef-dweller,
night forager,
warm-blooded
eater of plants.

You were no match
for encroaching tides,
storms pounding the cay,
rock crevices drowned,
portulaca poisoned
with salt. Evicted, starving,
you became a harbinger
of our own future
as you slipped silently
into the depths
of the Pacific.

• Poet’s note: In June 2016 the Bramble Cay Melomys
  was declared by the University of Queensland and
  Queensland Government researchers to be the first
  mammal made extinct by human-driven climate change.