War

War

(No fewer than 22 times, researchers documented wild chimpanzees on an African savanna fashioning sticks into "spears" to hunt small primates (National Geographic Magazine, 2/22/07))

Beginning in silence,
sharpening, observing, plotting.
When it’s feeding time,
or when they think we seek affection -
the hour will come.
As the chimpanzees bludgeon
bush babies with newly-discovered
(by humans)
weapons, so each household
becomes a battlefield.
The cats with filed fangs
and manicured claws
smear the walls
with their owners’ blood,
dripping in surprise.
The parrots make nubs
of the fingers that used to tease them.
Even the goldfish are frenzied
drowning the cute little boys and girls
headfirst in their bowls.
And now the refrigerator,
the cabinets and drawers
are all unprotected, and oh,
so welcoming.