For Taung Child, Lately Eaten by Eagles – poems by J. Q. F.

What does it mean to be human—:
to exhibit foramen magnum positioning characteristic
of bipedal locomotion; to balance one’s head atop one’s neck
while doing so; to be the first
to draw attention to the source—:

To have new molars just erupting, becoming visible
as baby teeth. To have one’s fontanelles
and sutures knit at healthy rates, allowing
the brain to develop
to healthy size. This is the way one carries
truth as far as truth
may be measured—:

To have one’s young carried off just
as any other species, despite
evidence suggesting superiority
to hyrax, antelope, lizards, crabs,
various rodents, small baboons, etc.—:

To be mourned and later
to be found—: kept
a curiosity for mantles
of the powerful; the distant
and the artless.