To the Buyer of Joan Didion’s House
by Deirdre Hennings
So the buyer of Joan Didion’s house
loved the house because of its garden,
especially the towering magnolia tree
whose blooms perfumed the bedrooms—
but tenting to kill termites was demanded.
Did he know it would decimate that secret
garden? Even the regal magnolia died.
Life is full of acting before understanding,
like bringing cane toads from Hawaii
to eat cane grubs in Australia, which
sounded good. Who needed research?
Turns out, grubs mature before toads do.
So with no enemy, they kept on ruining
sugarcane and toads ate everything else,
growing as big as dinner plates. Now
they seem unstoppable, eating natives.
What species lost for lack of inquiry?
Yet we go on, insert DNA with poor
prognostication, gaily believe boosters,
give climate change deniers benefit
of the doubt, brush science aside,
put on rose-colored glasses as
storms worsen, catastrophes grow,
our world turns upside down.
I hope the buyer of Joan Didion’s house
is prepared.