Instead of the Species

It's emotionally engaging and feels distinct . . .

Instead of an illustration of the species or the planet as a whole.

 

The winners inherit the Earth

So most of their inheritors

Can prove themselves, as we have proved

Ourselves, all we inheritors

Of earlier rounds of winners,

To be the next batch of losers.

If you’re a winner reading this,

Congratulations. You’re both weird

And a poor representative

Of your generation composed,

As generations have always

Been composed, of mostly losers.

But we’re not being engaging,

Are we, these lines, this point of view,

This chosen camera angle?

You don’t want an illustration

Of your species or the planet

As a whole. You want us to see

Your distress, whatever it is,

Your own individual soul.

What fun is it to contemplate

All the generations behind,

All the suffering that made you

Ready to document your own?

Winners. Losers. Words just like us.

Concepts drawn from competitions

Among cooperating lives,

Drawn from hunger, hunger being

Drawn somehow from rocks. Yes, alright,

We’ll dwell upon your soulful plight.