Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years From Now

The poem begins with a focus on the largest animals on earth: “Most likely you’ll think we hated the elephant” (Line 1). At the end of the poem, however, the speaker shifts focus, saying, “all the bees were dead” (Line 20), thus ending the poem with a revelation about one of the smaller insects. Olzmann’s choices here demonstrate that the life of the largest animals—elephants, whales, and humans—are dependent on some of the smallest insects: bees.

When this poem was first released in 2017, the bumblebee had been added to the endangered species list. It was one of many bee species that was already endangered. Unlike some other species, the death of the bee would have a noticeable, catastrophic effect on human beings. Bees pollinate flowers, which is necessary for the propagation of plants and the growth of crops that feed people and animals. If the bees die off, there will be no more gardens or food. As the title suggests, the earth could be vastly different within as little as 50 years.

The poem underscores what the destruction of populations like the bees will result in with a grim diagnostic: Within half a century, the speaker says, there will be “nothing” but chemicals and a few animals left eating “jet fuel and plastic” (Lines 5-6).