What an oddity you were,

Heavy headed and plumed with grey,

With a hooked bill and stout feet.

In the end you stood no chance.

Cradled by a land that honed your creation for too long,

Only for a knocking stranger to pluck your bloodline from this earth.

Tough and bitter to the tongue of man,

It was a cruelty that your demise was not but two legged foe alone,

But in part,

At the hands of other beasts brought on the backs of boats.

Docile babe swaddled in down,

Too naive to fear the hunt of the hungry man,

How simple you must’ve been.

Flightless in both body and brains,

A slow wit has hastened your leave.