Revised and reposted as follows:

Earth’s Greatest Legacy

In the vast savanna of Africa,
I came to life.
But unlike my cousins,
who lived million years
before me,
I did not inhabit the trees.

I did hunt and join gatherers,
so I may live.
I roamed and thrived in Africa,
and colonized
different corners of the world
through persistence hunting
and the agility
of my bipedal feet.

I survived wilderness
through the culture
more powerful than the blood
running in my stream.

A victim of melting ice
and rising sea levels,
I had to walk and walk
as a nomad,
until I found the rich soils
to plant the foods
that gave me heat.

Though always bullied
by climate change,
I knew:
I should be a guardian
of nature,
or a loyal friend at least,
but never as an enemy–
more so,
its worst enemy.

Tricked by this-worldly side of me,
I was a slave
of my whims and needs.

A willing prisoner
of material possessions
and temporal needs,
I hurt Mother Earth
and compromised my life
and all lives
poorly thinking
that was how
I should live.

Guilty as charged,
and stricken by greed,
I am responsible
for the evil profusion of CO2,
and demonic dependence
on chemicals
and GMOs too.

Indeed,
I am what I am,
but I can overcome my flaws.

For with a willing heart,
and fierce determination,
I still can mend
the wounds
I caused this world–
as I am so endowed
with knowledge and wisdom.

To heal myself,
this world,
and the universe–
from all iniquities–
is now
my utmost priority.

I am
Homo sapien
to scientists;
A man
to many;
And,
I am Earth’s
greatest legacy,
and I will
always be.