Today's poem is Last Butterfly by Valerie Egar. It is read by Samaa Abdurraqib.
Last Butterfly
A drone tracked it from a safe distance,
shooting video for the evening news.
People clogged the highway, waving flowers
from car windows. Most had only seen
pictures and hoped it might flutter near.
Talking heads complained
the rock concert planned that night
was bad taste, but the proceeds
were designated for the Taxidermy Zoo
and holograms of the disappeared—
rhinos, elephants, cheetahs—
were certain to entertain.
Police tasered a man carrying a net—
on the black market, a butterfly's body
commanded at least a million,
and the Extinction Museum's van
was idling, ready to receive its frail body,
its bright orange wings.