They taught us atoms were the smallest things
Back in the thirties—clearly they were wrong.
They taught us evolution pulled the strings—
Natural selection frames what belongs.
Ambient temperature, predatory
Skills, food supply, and complex brain cell thrums
Contribute to evolution’s story,
Along with supple opposable thumbs.
Being omnivorous certainly helps.
Innovation parries nature’s changes
That might end our standing, select new whelps
To dominate the earth’s changing ranges.
Though proud our species thrives, fit, perfected,
I wonder why earwax was selected.
(9/8/13)