Out there, I know,
Is the world I know –
The silly masquerade, parade, always on stage
on an ever-changing soundtrack played,
the dance so carefully contrived — a handshake and a smile
playing nice with guns and knives, extensions of a genetic strand,
primates who learned to stand, opposable thumbs in each hand –
and here they are, war after war against their own, the
earth, and sky unlike anything that came before –
they achieved but wanted more and evil spread
before the gods could shut the door.
Yet they pretend to find distinction between man and beast –
that they are invited to some Promised Land or Wedding Feast –
and it cannot be a novel thought that being born
a certain species makes them entitled to an eternal soul
for it is the same argument they use for power and control
over religion, gender, and race
ever so carefully, they dance with grace
around a truth that deep within they know –
that out there, they are the only world
I know.