Bombed at Three in the Afternoon

bombed at three in the afternoon,
the distance between man
and a stone
seems very far apart,
but he said it. he
said,
"man kills other men, eats
meat, builds bombs, rapes women,
man is ugly, he should die and
give this precious earth back
to the
stones!

i drink my beer
and order one more-
my ear on the fire,
only one chapter old.

"man is a parasite
of nature. he steals her wood,
poisons her fields, leaves
her wrecked against her own shores.
man is unnatural, he should be
buried
under
the stones!"

he is screaming, fire/voice
crackling in the afternoon air.

i drink my beer
and order one more-
my ear on that fire.

"man knows only hate, he hates
his brother, kicks dogs, beats horses,
kills sea lions,
he knows no kindness or sympathy!"

"excuse me," i said, "can i buy
you a beer?"
"sure," he replied, amazement pop
eyed.

beer came, i paid for it, made a toast
to kindness,
poured my budweiser over his head-
and stumbled out the door-
off in search of a stone.