Cave People

yesterday after

scrolling through the morning

news and my social media feeds

with my coffee and bagel

and my feet up by the jacuzzi

i started to think about a cave

somewhere long long ago

someone for the first time

imagining the wheel

delighting in how it might simplify

the shaping of baskets

the movement of water to the mill

later improve the grist for grinding

and the weaving of tangled wool

another cave dweller

standing nearby

more muscular and better

focused on a singular possibility

listened and claimed

the idea for his own

began to picture

a better way for war

in increasingly more

elaborate drawings on

the limestone walls

the first was soon denigrated

for holding civilization back

relegated to the spit

to rediscover fire

although there was really

nowhere in that eon

anyone needed to go

the other roused the clan

convinced the wider tribe

to set about the task

of building roads

i was awestruck

almost dumbfounded

in that moment

with the parallels

satisfied beyond belief

as i dove into the deep end

of my pristine

chlorinated

pool

about

who i was and

how i earn my living