Mammoth Task

Forty thousand years

of permafrost       bed

till   this beauty       raised

by drill’s kiss    bores     holes

in her     leg.  Syringes    draw

blood  from thawing  veins to    cheers

stomach contents                        sifted

by latex  fingered greed          tusk

sliced   scanned  for                reproductive   history.

Vultures make                   clone  plans

Blend genome           cocktails  with            elephants

hybrids to replenish                 Tundra     clean up our     mess

eight calves born   teeth       worn   drowned

eaten   again  by   predators

even extinction is      no longer       safe.

RACHAEL CLYNE – psychotherapist and writer, from Glastonbury. Rachael won the 2013 Indigo Dreams’ Geoff Stevens Memorial prize with her collection Singing at the Bone Tree. The poems concern our longing for the wild self and the journey of frustration and loss we encounter to reclaim it. Publications include: a collection:She Who Walks with Stones and Sings (PSAvalon);  anthologies: The Listening Walk, Wells Fountain Poets, Love and Loss; magazines: ImPress, Poetry Space. She also has a self-help book Breaking the Spell – Keys to recovering Self-esteem (PSAvalon) www.rachaelclyne.com   http://www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/#/rachael-clyne/4584569249  Her poems Asylum and The Price are dedicated to the All African Women’s Group, a self-help group for women asylum seekers.