Hunters
by Odin Roark

Hunters
Passing gatherers along the way

Guided missiles
Tucked securely
Beneath wings borne of technology
Embracing payloads of fear

While

Nature’s winged
Eagle and hawk
Raven and sparrow
Continue to know only
Survival

And lest we forget

In the city’s canyons
Predators of another kind
Hunt for identity
Fortunes
Escape
Self respect lost
Long ago
While ignoring

Survivalist trackers
Seeking abandoned fridge boxes
Haunting kindly soup kitchens
Before returning to the darkness

Somewhere in yesterday’s remembrance
The simple provider from caves
With bone
Arrow
Spear
Sought sustenance for
He
She
Little ones
Even pets

Eventually along this hunter line
Man’s hardwired survival instinct
Shorted out
Sparks flew
Minds became chaotic
Lost like downed power lines
Snaking wildly
Helplessly seeking to ground the pain

But

Like our synaptic wonder
Rescuing such out of control escape
Has become something
Only total shutdown might contain

In the meantime

Regret wanders through landscapes
Both internal and external awareness
Like a just born baby
We may have to start
From scratch
Throw some food
Purge our lungs of pain and frustration
Fill our diapers with innocent waste
Look for Nature’s maternal essence
And return to bone and perhaps
A rebirth

Primitive accepted