On Us All

When I was little it became an adventure

To be able to see over the edge of the kitchen table

I would sit and have coffee with my grandfather

And he would let me sit on his leg, bouncing like a horse might do.

I would have tea with Grandma, though,

And we would play peek-a-boo behind the stove

And bake cookies that filled the air with their sweet scent.

But that was long ago, and no longer do I feel so content,

So easily amused or safe in a world that totters

On the edge of exhaustion for the misuse

Of its very resources as we have only each other

To keep our numbers in check

And while it is tragic that even one life is lost

It is nature’s harshest reality

That the weak and the meek are conquered

And the strong get to impose their beliefs on us all.