The Foodchain
Now I must educate you
In the natural order of this world
The Foodchain, the divine mandate
Those rules by which we must live.
First, there are the producers
Those great emerald masses
Stretching into every horizon
Synthesizing sugar, fusing sun and Earth.
Then come the herbivores
Who sample every grass
Who indulge in every tangy fruit
Seeding and sowing their herds and flocks.
All the while, in the woods
The Carnivores wait in envy,
Watching the hare, the sheep, the deer
Multiply and feast.
They wait for their bellies to distend
For them to be weighted down
They encircle the herds
And pounce.
Suddenly they are at the apex
The kings of these wooded lands
Through force of teeth
They claim their right.
They were born into this depraved role
And all the world quivers at their howl
They multiply and grow fat
Masters of the herds.
For they demand all the deer
Multiply and graze
Until the fields are but dust
Emerald turned to grey.
What happens then
When the foundation corrodes?
When that which was common
Dies, and vanishes?
Why of course,
The dear grow lean
And few
Supply cannot afford the demand.
Then the children of the wolves
Starved and wily
Compete for dwindling herds
Whom their parents indulged so haughtily.
They fight and kill
Consume each other’s flesh
Kings eating kings
Mere rabid dogs.
Until one day all becomes silent
Not a howl echoes in these woods
For the wolves had gone extinct
Starved by gluttony.
So tell me then
Who is truly king?
Is it the wolf?
Or is it the simple grass?
