A marked path,
pristine, sterile
dirt finally buries
all trash, litter,
mutated monkey bones.

Synthetic beauty 
of art and architecture:
an acceptable loss 
to bandage over ever-bleeding
deep human scars of  
utility, efficacy, and convenience
that forever plagued the autotrophs.

The last artist loses himself 
in fog, enfolding his essence
between ancestral trees.
He finds grandma pine,
hugs her
who hugs him back 
as best she is able with sessile bark:
bittersweet pride
in the final descendant
of humankind
who spreads his seed 

straight down into ground,
shrugging all the while.
If Gaia wants to gestate
photosynthetic demigods, 
she can be a single mom. 
Humans are done.

Spermatozoa among sparrow guano:
other creatures cannot tell the difference
and do not care.

Silver winner of this contest: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2831129-National-Poetry-Month-April-23rd-noguest