Reptiles   Evolve? We’ll evolve when we want to. We’re reptiles — we decide. No mother love, no promises — that’s the deal. Don’t get too near, don’t think too hard, don’t ever think we owe you anything, ’cause we don’t. Where were you when we hatched? You, who never saw our shells, one perfect world piled on another, blue, brown, green — it’s true: we made our way. To hell with your nipples, your kindergartens, your wedding bells and gold rings — we’ll show you rings. We’ll show you claws, too — remember? The more you hurt, the more we — nothing. Go ahead, sing — we don’t do music, don’t do memories — what for? We’ll outlast you. We don’t do fair and unfair. We don’t do thermostasis. Go ahead, cry — we’re reptiles, we don’t care.     © Michael Fleming Brattleboro, Vermont April 2013