The Last Rhino

This poem was published in Skryptic Magazine 2, 2017.

The last rhino

. . . came charging from the sky 

with coal-fire eyes 

skin thicker than belief

snorting poison till a cloud

of grey-white powder filled the air

more deadly than asbestos 

or mass-destruction rockets 

it trampled 

on apothecaries 

and store rooms holding 

caches of natural remedies

ripped libraries 

of wellness texts apart

then stopped in front of me 

as if it sensed I'd signed 

one of those on line-petitions-

shared posts 

with other bleeding hearts-

pressed like as if 

that might trigger action 

from some green politician

time joined in silently 

as I gazed down 

the bloody gaping hole 

where once a horn had been

and heard the cracks  

of gunshots 

from fellow human beings