Possum Wisdom

To beat a retreat,
A hasty retreat,
Beat it to pieces,

Leave nothing of it.
There’s no retreat left.
You, fly in the jaws

Of the blue lizard,
Mouse in the talons
Of the soft-winged owl,

You human engaged
In machinery
Meant to chew your faint

Vestiges of hope
In fairy numbers,
Those bits of protein

Code shreds and swallows
From your well-tracked
Bank accounts. Just squeak

And accept the end.
The feint that you make
Then may save you yet.