My ancestor with whiskers draped
Cringed back on tiny paws, away
From fang-mouthed scaly fiend that scraped
To widen burrow's entranceway.

And as the creature pressed its face
Inside, foul breath of carnivore,

[i]there came the blow that rang the world[/i]

Earth shook. The reptile's beady gaze
Was torn away and seen no more.

The skies streamed red and roared, the gale
Tore up the land and flattened trees
Five thousand miles away, the flail
of heaven smashed into the seas

And turned the waters into steam
The broken bedrock splashed like mud,
And chunks of molten magma streamed
Through sky with the colossal flood

That scoured all the land around
of life. Tsunamis, poisoned air,
Relentless dust and fire, sound
of dread disaster, life's despair.

And from one burrow poked a nose
As twitching whiskers sensed the breeze.
The furry thing emerged, exposed
To sky and wind and broken trees.

So little of the chain of prey 
And predator would carry on
Through bitter strife and darkened day,
But my ancestor (and your own)

While starving, scraping, stayed the course
And rose to take the reins that all
The saurians had dropped. The doors
Were parted, and along the hall

Of life there would arise the ones
Inheriting that ancient gift,
Who'd look back on the fossil bones 
And tell the tale that they had lived.