"This poem was inspired by an old saying which in this case eludes proper citation.  The saying constitutes one of the most prescient observations regarding the destiny of humanity.  It describes that humans, at the time of European settlement of North America, were on path to create a world in which we, like the rest of the animals, would never belong.  Undoubtedly what was predicted has come to pass.  When for example, I see the masses of humanity huddled behind nations' borders, I see bewildered bison, who once roamed the entire continent freely, trapped behind the fences we erected.  When I see masses of humanity protesting where the rivers intersect with oil pipelines, I see salmon, struggling to find a future behind the unyeilding facades of the dams which we erected.  We, like the rest of natures  creatures, are increasingly unable to conform to  the world we shape."