(Poem 103 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

There are creatures in space
who have infested a planet,
burrowing into the layers of soil,
creating habitats of wonder.
They are labeled indigenous
because no one is sure how
they were originally seeded.
Tales abound of spontaneous
generation or magical intervention,
but more than likely, they
are an invasive species who
hitched a ride uninvited and
were accidentally released.
Their unwelcome presence
has altered the ecosystem
such that millions of other
species are now extinct,
choked out of existence by
their insatiable hunger and
destructive tendencies, including
but not limited to the following:
“preying on native species
carrying or causing disease
introducing new pathogens
displacing current populations
by living in the same niche
outcompeting native species
for food and other resources
preventing native species from reproducing
and killing native species’ young.”
It is believed that they are the
“leading cause of global biodiversity loss”
and are irreparably and permanently
altering the well-being of the planet.

@Home Studio – 103^rd poem of the year

“Invasive Species” prompt. Beta, Google AI, 14 Apr. 2024, http://www.google.com/search