I wonder where they had to go,

The animals that lived nearby,

In shady woods of trees and briars

Or prairie grass and wild flowers,

Who ate the berries by the ditch

Just like I did as a child,

But then they cleared away the land

For neighborhoods and crowded streets.

The loudness of development

Would cover screams of death, I guess.

For soon the places they could go

We’re gone without a trace or patch.

The berry stain, the dandelion,

All washed away in a tide of progress.

And in the sea of forgetfulness

Our tears did go. The losing wild

That went into oblivion.

I cry for them. Two-thirds of them.