The Americans
Neither in healthy penance
Nor to remind themselves
They were not the earth's only tenants
In the name of SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY
Collected samples of them.
Killed them and stuffed them
Dried them or waxed them
Bronzed and buffed them
Floated them in formaldehyde
And plastic cubes and semi-spheres.
Or compressed them
Between sheets of glass or pages.
Or let them live in concrete holes and cages.
They collected them.
To study them, dissect them.
To see inside.
To give them Latin names.
To grind them into perfume, pet food
Fish food and fertilizer.
And to - collect them.
To make themselves wiser.