Rarity unto death

they used to blacken the sky.
they used to thunder the woods.
they used to fly in the sea.
they used to transit the globe.
slaughtered for markest. clubbed for bait.
drowned in long lines.
destroyed their homes.
long gone but not forgotten:
ivory billed woodpecker, carolina parakeet,
passenger pigeon, and the great auk.
labrador duck, bachmans warbler, eskimo curlew,
and the heath hen.