Divine Regret

Homo homini lupus: Man is a wolf to man.

My apes have gone off course,
though their missiles can thread a window.
I didn’t expect them to evolve this way,
swelling the oceans like I did once.

Their missiles assassinate through windows.
Their neutron bombs preserve Picassos.
They scum the swelling oceans with plastic.
Not so great apes—more sap than sapiens.

Their bombs are masterpieces of negation.
Why did I give them opposable thumbs?
Apes, great at decapitation, wise-guy hits.
Better that they had stayed in the trees.

So many innocents under their thumbs.
Homo homini lupus? Homo homini simiae.
Better that they had stayed in the trees
than come down to pave the savanna.

The wolves are praying for my apes
to form one gigantic pack, no outcasts,
and save the last savannas
for doleful wildebeests, dismayed lions.

Can the bipeds sign a pact for life?
I didn’t expect them to evolve this way,
with nothing to teach the wildebeests and lions.
My apes are lost on the golf course.