INBRED
Finches arrive in bunches.
They helicopter down and hover
like hummingbirds before
they peck in order at the feeder —
each to his ration.
No one
fights.
A wild but definite
civility prevails until
each finch is full.
To share
and share alike is worlds
away from all our public
massacres or wars we wage
for warfare’s sake.
It seems
we are the lone species that kills its kind by choice.
Lately we’ve invaded space
and set our sights on Mars.
Will we retain our malice
in the stratosphere and be
as lethal there as here?
The first
murder on the moon will tell us.