FUTURESHOCK

This story started life as two separate poems, neither of which worked satisfactorily. 
I put them aside, but there was something about each of them that I thought worth saving.
Eventually, like Doctor Frankenstein, I exhumed them, stitched them together: arms and legs to torso, brain inserted into the cranium like a battery in an old radio and then, gingerly, I applied the electrodes.
The result of my experiment is The Nature Room. 
Step this way, please. 
 

THE NATURE ROOM

And here we have the Nature Room. Step in. Do not tread on the grass.
See, we have realistic trees, many flowers, also birdsong. Notice the scent of fertile earth and how the clouds appear to move. Over there is a waterfall: that is a recent addition.
Look here, to your left. The tiger in this compound is rather special. The last one born by traditional process. It is old, of course. See, it moves with difficulty. A curiosity, is it not?
Over there, in the large enclosure, are tigers born of science. We created them. Synthetic beasts, flawless and, dare I say it, beautiful.
This old tiger is decrepit. Soon it will die. Ours will survive and flourish. As species decline and perish we will replace them. Today the tiger, tomorrow, bears perhaps, or wolves when they have gone. Nature is flawed. It will die out. We shall remake and improve it.
Old-fashioned, non-synthetic beasts cannot withstand the pace of change: the world will not sustain them, but never fear, we have the means to replenish all that is lost.
We are proud of our Nature Room.It has been reproduced with care. All that you see here resembles the Old-World-That-Was, but is superior. Control is the key. See how the rain falls and how it stops. All so easy.
In the river there are salmon. Not real fish, you understand: these, too, are artificial. Our river will never run dry and not one tree will ever fall. Science is the answer. Things were too slippery before, too unrestrained, disorganised. Behold, now we control it all.
Are not our tigers finer than this pathetic specimen? It is old. A curiosity, of course. Soon it will be gone. No matter. We have things in hand. Come, let us move on.
Here in the basement lab we have something special. We have created the future. In the caged incubator to your left, see, is it not splendid? Observe the stocky body, sturdy arms, fists that reach and clutch. Note well, the eyes, intelligent, alert. Look how it turns its massive head to stare at us.