Science Poems

Here, But Not There, Be Tigers: On Wallace’s Line

A poem about biogeography

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

All maps are lines drawn by people:

borders separating countries (whatever countries are)

coastlines fixed and rigid, untroubled by hurricanes

disputed territories (here be landmines).

Lines girdling the Earth

made of ink, not stone.

On this old map, a line

negotiates the strait between Bali and Lombok

and runs north between Borneo and Sulawesi.

Where it goes from there, well, take your pick.

One scholar threads it through Mindoro Strait,

Another turns it south of Mindanao.

To the west are tigers

To the east, tree-kangaroos.

This line is drawn by people,

but it follows a truth older than countries (whatever they are).

It traces the edge of ancient Sunda.

To the west are islands once joined by dry land.

To the east, deep water never bridged.