urp II

Methanogens detox ungulates' gut
by stripping hydrogen out of the chyme,
that forms when fermentation's firmly shut
from oxygen (if only for a time).
What's once produced is belched into the air
to trap IR--'though UV shines right through.
A threat to which we're slow to grow aware
as we poach in our man-made greenhouse stew.
A million years of symbiotic bliss
recycling cellulose into prime meat
could make a sterile Venus out of this
blue planet as it traps more of our heat.
Our steak in worlds to come's ever more dear
if we must buy it with our atmosphere.