Population

The problem is people,

that we are overruled

from the beginning,

and the carnage

seems endless.

The people who rule

have learned how to tell lies

secretly and out loud,

acting like the ancient emperors, pretending

that it’s truth we’ve been told.

Yet truth never sounds phony

or gratuitous.

A small conclave of gulls at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, August, 2026.