needless pain they bear

individual animals figure things out

and their small group learns

a new method of dealing

with the world’s challenges

i.e., poking into a ant hole with a stick

whale belly-flopping high on a beach

to go after prey

but none yet sees a house

as shelter from inclement weather

they stand or huddle naked to rain

snow, sleet, hail when penguin

fathers could push snow together

to build a wall if not a roof rather

than use each other’s bodies

at the expense of his life

or osprey could angle sticks to create

a semi-cave in raw nest rather than

leave head and shoulders bare

to the storm

could we teach them? or would we

be leading them into our own

withered separation from nature?