Almost Gone

Scientists say humanoids
almost went extinct nearly
a million years ago, down to
some twelve hundred individuals
capable of reproducing.
It was a cold time, a time of
drought and desperation,
on the brink of elimination
for ages untold.
But things changed, warmed up,
grew, provided sustenance for the
beleaguered species.
Explosive growth then, for millenia,
spreading over earth like a reborn
virus, covering the land, reproducing
so that the end was not so close,
not so imminent, not expected again,
save rogue asteroids or solar anomalies,
for millions of years more —
or at least keenly projected so.

J. B. Hogan is a poet, fiction writer, and local historian. He has been published in a number of journals including the Blue Lake Review, Crack the Spine, Copperfield Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Well Read Magazine, and Aphelion. His twelve books include Bar Harbor, Mexican Skies, Living Behind Time, Losing Cotton, The Apostate and, most recently, Forgotten Fayetteville and Washington County (local history). He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Find more by J. B. Hogan in the Author Index.