They Would Go Nowhere at All

Along narrow ways, running
Errands while ruminating,
You feel the long shadow first.

Who is that person, what do
They want, are they dangerous?
Sickness, death, and poverty—

Sickness and death in people
You care about, poverty
Of your own. The government

Always has people in it,
Always people running it,
And you can’t see all of them,

So they become one. Any
Organization, any
Institution becomes one,

Once it has enough people
In positions you can’t see,
Becomes their shadow person,

Elongated and grotesque,
That overtakes you before
You can see the shadow’s source.

Every human knows humans
Are predators, and humans
In groups are group predators,

Predators whose only prey
Are other people, other
Potential group predators.

And how do humans survive
Sickness, death, and poverty?
With help from group predators.

Approach the till of a shop
In a city of shadows
With your purchases and trust.