If only they could know

what it's like to be one of us

(or most of us)

(or what I suspect most of us are like)

(or at least were in the furnace of our youth).

If they could know

the extraordinary power of the Reptile

in us

and how easily the sight of unanticipated legs

or breasts displayed in subtle provocation

or naked arms against the shortest sleeves

or even the barest hint of invitation

can bring it savagely to the fore

and make Dog brain and Ape brain

take a back seat for a while.

If only they knew what it was like

to feel the muscles swelling

and to know the primal delight of sheer, dirty, x-rated, hard-edged, blood pulsing

lust

then maybe they would understand why we are so often

so helplessly amusing

and so repellent

and so bizarre

and so often willing to sacrifice unspeakably huge things

to give the Reptile his way and to

shut him up for awhile

until the next smiling face

drags us down into his wordless realm.