Layers [√]

[ the natural order ]

the fight started with a fist just
right below my cousin's right cheek
a blow dealt by the father, angry
red splotches of disbelief in
his neck like a violent ring

my cousin snarls, a white tiger
his body tight with the instincts
of a predator on hold, saliva
dripping from the fangs of a boy
turned wild animal turned prey

the theory of evolution doesn't say
something about the natural hierarchy
when the father upsets the son and
the son carries the sins of the father

we are children borne from war