The Knife

Life likes carnivory. Flowering
Plants have independently evolved

To capture and digest animals
At least a dozen separate times.

Flowering plants in total have been
Around one or two hundred million

Years out of the two or three billion
Years of ancestors packed behind them.

The future, once it becomes the past,
Will likely flourish fresh sharp edges.

There’s a little slice of life always
Ready to pick up and wave the knife.