The Evolution of Fear

I
This wound sours beneath the skin,
spreads its toxins in the blood. Black

lines streak through fevered flesh,
pulse toward the heart. Sterilize

your sharpest blade. Pierce deep
to the bone until the fluids run clean.

II
We have no natural immunity--
no protection or divine intervention

for an invisible plague. We are both
vector and host. The saved

and the damned. We curse the fleas
that bite the rats. We bait the traps.

III.
Burn the living. Burn the dead.
Let the fire decide. Let the wind

scatter our ashes out to sea. Plankton
will consume our memories. In time perhaps,

something curious or foolish enough
can emerge from the muck to try again.