Bob Hicok
Human nature
March 10, 2026
Human Beings, Yamaguchi Gen (1953)
You shouldn’t put a hand grenade in a microwave
without a plate on top of it
to keep shrapnel from splattering
unless you like cleaning up war.
Is that too much or not enough
figurative excess per square inch
to suggest I think war is dumber
than taking the SAT with a flame thrower?
But that’s enough violence
with my coffee, I need a puppy
licking the face of this poem
and peeing out of happiness
that humans exist, as if we invented food
and chasing sticks. We invented horrible things
such as foreclosures and Wagner
but also cheeseburgers
are nice and staring at the sun
to see if it blinks first
or ever.
