.....

Trick animals have brighter realms
pulsing clouds   hollow steel cells stacked tier upon tier


      no claws   no fangs   a soft skin


equipped with sharp spines living dots and stars
armor or suction cup   their wakes and gleams glance off


        In aimless drift, fangs and beaks have torn smoke-
                                    screens,                        poisons,
                                    knives and scythes, hammers
                                    and battering rams, stun guns
                                    and electric chairs, barbwire
                                    and burglar alarms
                                        tons of roadway rape a beam
                                         six million rivets built the towers out of
         the mere scraping of a cricket's wings causes the same springiness