Emergency Nightmare

Rock pigeons meet catfish in Albi,
Under the Pont Vieux over the Tarn,
Neither native. The catfish have learned

To seize the invasive rock pigeons
By the toes, drag them down, gulp them whole.
This isn’t evolution, yet, this

Is opportunism, the landscape
Of evolution—this is hunger,
Mother of evolution and death.

If it moves like food and it’s in reach,
Then why not try to catch and eat it?
Your ancestors’ ancestors did it,

And, far enough back, some form of life
Had to have been the first to find life
Simpler to maintain by swallowing

The whole life of another. Engulf
Or invade, capture or stowaway,
The first opportunists created

The first opportunistic nightmares.
No evolution necessary
After that to try one’s hand at that.

Adaptations only settle in
Once the tango is well established
Between the pigeons and the catfish.