A poem …

 For the Spotted Owl

By Jennifer Knox

...a poem on the controversy wherein the legal protection offered by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 failed to protect the endangered northern spotted owl because many jobs were at stake in the lumber and paper industries of the Pacific northwestern United States.

A stained-glass window shines between each branch.

Tall spires rise to candelabras of stars,

And all is well where the spotted owl flies.

You with the heart on your sleeve, what do you think-

Shall we let the spotted owl and all of nature be?

Who are we to stand in the way of progress?

Explain to me a spider web strung with dew-

Each drop catching the colors of a rainbow,

And all is well where the spotted owl flies.

Consider pine-green mist, where the selfish

Giant takes down trees wherever he goes.

Who are we to stand in the way of progress?

I spy through the keyhole of my cement jungle

A holy land where beauty abounds.

All is well where the spotted owl flies.

Let's all go into that final sunset

And let the spotted owl and all of nature be.

Who are we to stand in the way of progress?

All is well where the spotted owl flies