New work in Heavy Feather Review

Something I’ve thought about a lot lately (maybe “thought about” isn’t the right phrase, maybe “allowed to crowd my brain with anxious repetitive blather”) is the idea that the Elon Musks of the world are preparing to quite literally jump ship and leave us all behind.

I took my daughter to the zoo on a cold day this winter, hoping that the animals would be active so that her little baby eyes would be drawn to something and entertained for more than 90 seconds. The polar bear habitat was empty except for one dingy bear, and some “bear toys” made out of plastic 5-gallon buckets and rope. The bear lay asleep on a fake rock, ignoring the crowds, and it was this drab scene that inspired Report of the Justification Committee. I started to wonder whether I’d get a spot on our new planet and decided that I am probably not important enough, and in that case, the polar bears (if the species survives long enough) are probably not going to make the cut, either.