Man-Eater--A Poem

By day, I sleep.

By night, I hunt.

You only have

yourselves to blame.

For I would not have become

what I am

if you had just thought to leave

well-enough alone.

But no, humans have to

be themselves,

just as I

have to be myself.

Glorious rapture

comes from the death

of one's prey.

This is an equality

between us.

For do you not

roar when

your prey falls?

Do you not feel

satisfaction

at a hunt you find

justified?

Are you not praised

when a slight is returned.

Split us open

at our bellies,

and you will find

more similarities:

heart

liver

lung

intestine

bone

blood

it turns out,

there is no true difference

between predator and

prey.

But there is one difference

that matters--

who eats

and who gets eaten.

Man-eater I am called.

I have been many things:

crocodile

hippo

lion

hyena

dog

cat

snake

bird

my forms are endless

as is my hunger.

So long as there are

dying humans

and humans

killing other humans

for sport or vengeance,

I will always be.

The question then is:

what is the next form I shall be?