Sitting on a Bench in a City Park

Humans are part of the natural world, for better or worse.

Sitting on a Bench in a City Park

I wonder about humans,
How we kill
Yet escape retribution of
Incurable, lifelong guilt.

A robin lands silent and alert
Head snapping side to side.
Her black eyes are shimmering marbles,
Ultraviolet colors on wing feathers invisible to me.

She beaks her way into the grass
And I marvel at her swift strokes.
This is nature, I think to myself,
Beautiful and peaceful.

Pulling back at a violent pace
She tosses up an earthworm, who writhes for its life.
Robin’s beak slices the victim in two
And she swallows both halves.