More Human

Hyenas may be more human
than humans are.
Not an assessment we can accept.

No team is named after hyenas
though they are strong
and prosper among their kin.

What, then, makes us uneasy?
The laugh? The grin?
The weird way that they run?

It’s true: they scavenge the dead
and don’t always kill what they eat
or even eat what they kill,

a pattern that is also human.
Their family bonds are strong,
stronger than ours.

They protect their young to the death.
Is this not success?
Are they not worthy of respect…

perhaps more than humans?