Amberat

It’s a grim thing people do,
Pissing on other people
To cement them together,

The way a packrat pisses
On the seeds, stems, and baubles
It’s collected to cement

Its midden in amberat.
You’ve done it and been pissed on
Yourself some, or your group has—

Whenever someone sums up
Some other class of someones
As wholly homogenous

Based on trivial shared traits—
And we do mean whenever,
Although it’s more or less cruel,

Punching up or punching down—
Some small amberhuman’s glued.
What makes it truly human

Is that people can be both
The packrat and the midden—
Industrious behavior,

Unfortunate collections,
And that crystallized urine—
At one time or another.

But then, that’s not surprising.
Everything about humans,
Beginning with language—speech,

Signs, symbols, gossip, all tech
For socializing—can loop
Recursively, byproducts

Being every paradox
Of self-reflection, mortal
Salience, and pissing yourself.