the splintering of our species

what to be the determinants, they thought,
as they mixed little doses of the latest
genetic concoctions
in that laboratory known as Society?

they threw out the class distinctions of the past,
those burdening, loathsome notions
of who is rich and who is poor
and replaced it with the vanity of
who is beautiful and who is hideous.

they tossed aside the merits of the species,
those complicated thoughts
of who will achieve and who will sit idle
and replaced them with who will act pretty
and who will say, “yes, please!” to any request.

they chucked the formalities of goodness,
those rambling concepts
of who will contribute or who will show conceit
in the face of measuring precisely who has nothing to give
but their own narcissism.

the splintering of our species
began early on,
when in that simple chemistry experiment
we stopped working together to create an
explosion of accomplishment.

instead, hell bent
on individual gains,
we allowed those to succeed and these to fail.
what animal creatures we all are,
when we lose sight of humanity.