Dale Champlin, Chaste, Collage, 2021
Functional Existence*
There are only two Sisters living out their old age together in
northern Florida
white rhinos see leather, distressed when they look at each other’s skin
left on earth widowed and divorced they are old maids
they live out their days on a beige velour couch
in a strange existential twilight— pinked by the tropical glare
a state of limbo the light fades along with their ancient mother
that scientists call choking in her easy chair
with heartbreaking dryness one sister recognizes the death rattle,
“functional extinction” the mother goes before the ambulance arrives
as two females two orphans still life in the living room
cannot save their subspecies. waiting for their light to be extinguished.
________________________
Vicki Iorio
*Note: Italicized text excerpted from a New York Times Magazine article: “The Last Two Northern White Rhinos on Earth” by Sam Anderson, Jan. 14, 2021