Dear PETA member,
Your idealism is charming
But I would like to offer you
A few gentle critiques

But allow me to clarify
My benign intent
I feel you might rush
To condemn my conclusions

I, among anyone,
Enjoy life, and seeking
The transcendental truths
That nature does proffer

And in nature, I have discerned
Your logical fallacy,
If I may be so candid
Please, don’t interrupt

All animals evolved to fit
Inside of a niche,
One species often gives way
To another

Badgers evolved to dig,
Mice, to proliferate
Lions, to roam
Men, to invent

And when chimpanzees heft spears
Of their own design, to hunt
Other primates down
Are they acting unnaturally?

And when one troop
Attacks their neighbors
And eats their food
Are they acting unnaturally?

When H. Erectus harnessed the powers
Of fire and expanded his calorie intake
He set a precedent for intelligence
For those who out-thought, out-populated

Have we strayed from the path H. Erectus
Set down for us? H. Erectus out-performed
H. Habilis, but are they more natural than
We? For what reason?

How can you find our supremacy
Unnatural? What logic, what rhetoric,
Do you use to justify that conclusion?
That we alone destroy other species?

You claim nature for your own purposes
Ignoring her true nature: She’s vicious.