The salamander does not lament her lot
Only we humans wrongly imagine the pain
Of darting in and out of flame

The salamander in her element
A perfectly rational adaptation
Involving mica and its high cation-exchange capacity

Similarly humans
By virtue perhaps of their generally omnivorous habit
Occupy an unusually complex and stressful niche

A heaven in hell’s despite
Another wrongful imagining
Of a pure hell’s purity and of a heaven’s

On the contrary an environment the earthly sphere
Rich and playful sad and forgiving cruel and beautiful
Greedy and giving and amazed