The Last Two Men on Earth

 The Last Two Men on Earth

-- parts of this poem appeared in my February 23, 2020 post "Climate Lifeboats of the Rich and Famous?"

I recall when it was reported Bill Gates bought -- then didn't buy -- Sinot's AQUA, "the world's first hydrogen-powered yacht for $650 million" according to businessinsider.com' s Taylor Gorden

and Jeff Bezos bought -- then didn't buy super yacht Flying Fox according to stuff.co.nz's 
John Anthony. The oceans are a better climate refuge than Mars, I thought.

I wrote, "These yes -- no -- reports are like the dead parrot scene in Monty's Python's sketch about a 'resting' Norwegian Blue," and later posted about Nirvana's version of Bowie's song

"The Man Who Sold the World." as much our story as theirs. Say what you dislike about them, Earth's two richest bipedal homo sapien mammals are not fools.

Gates "aw-shucks" brilliance took him from a New Mexico garage to fame and privilege. 
His "I know something you don't"-grin is priceless in a 1977 mugshot for a traffic violation.

It was reported Bezos' Amazon empire similarly started in a garage with spunk, "a handful of employees," and marketable data. Fortunes were made, dreams came true, and many lives changed.

If you were them, what exactly would you do with your wealth, creativity, research teams, and who knows what as glaciers melt, seas rise, forests burn, crops vanish, and species die?

Playing their cards right, they may be the last two surviving humans, as neurons shut down like light switches in Halloween mansions, and words fade as in flooded seaside libraries.