Justify, a poem

Justify

by Steven Feuerstein, 2013

I should not be here.
I should not be.

Too many humans
devouring the world.

I would leave
to save a single tree
or to ensure
a fern leaf unfurled.

But I'll stay, instead,
and switch allegiance
from a genocidal species
to my planet, my home:
my home of surpassing beauty.

If I stay, instead,
and save a single tree
and help tree ferns
unfurl their leaves,
perhaps I could at least
justify
this poem.