Watch Your Head

Pretty much still just the ape
That throws. For millions of years,
The bipeds practiced throwing

Rocks at prey, to keep at bay
Other scavengers, to chase
Away predators, to maim

And brain each other. As late
As the Bronze Age, spears and all,
As late as the Iliad,

Combatants still picked up rocks
And hurled them at each other.
As late as today, fighters

Caught in the streets without guns
Will hurl rocks at armored tanks,
More as gesture than weapon,

But a gesture that’s never
Mistaken. You throw a rock
In aggression, you’re human.