Bites

Fishhooks, flatbread, early temples,

Settled housing—Neolithic,

Yesterday, genetically,

Dividing line for the planet.

We submit the species evolved

Not at all in triggering these.

Beer evolved. Tools evolved. Grasses

Evolved in domestication.

What the Sumerians called me

Evolved in every direction.

Not really a dividing line,

Except perhaps in retrospect.

Evolution’s revolution

Had been brewing from wagging tongues

And elaborate gesturing

Probably ten times as far back.

But it hit a tipping point, point

At which the archaeology

Becomes suggestive of success

For the demographics but not

For most of the bodies themselves.

A schism becomes visible

When the graves hint more suffering

For most, more grave goods for a few.

You see where we’re going with this.

At some point all this talk began

To outrun most of the talkers.

Inequality rocketed,

Not yesterday but also not

Starting with the species as such.

The precise monster in this lair

Was neither biological

Nor historical, not at first.

If you’ve ever prayed or sung hymns

Or followed the law or felt shame

For not following it, you’re bit.