This Fly Must Die When it snows, we shovel. The grass grows and we mow. Every fall we struggle with leaves, bag after bag, only to have them grow back anew. We use chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides, because our lawns and food "have to be" just so. We build and build and build with no end in sight. We strip the lands. We tear down nature by building superfluous things; super highways, bigger malls, larger office buildings, 800 passenger airliners, parking lots that span acres, and gigantic department stores. We've set our sights on defeating Mother Nature. Depleting her. Killing her. We fight each other over land. We fight over differences in our religions, politics, and opinions. Someone looks at us funny and we blow him away. We fight to protect our personal properties. We. Sue and get sued in return. We are killing ourselves. Styrofoam. Plastics. Toxic waste. Botox treatments. Anti-aging creams and hair dyes to make us look younger. Every year we have bigger and faster cars. SUV. HIV. West Nile virus. The Bird flu. The Swine flu. We hunt, and kill the innocent, throw the carcasses aside and call it sport. Deforestation--Global warming--Carbon Footprints--Polar Icecap depletion. Over population and crowded landfills. We've created a throw away society--all under the guise of "necessity is the mother of invention." We spend billions on entertainment, and yet, a mother buries her child. When will it end? After we've already destroyed our planet and ourselves? Will it have been worth it? Why can't we just let it all be? After 90 minutes of gasoline usage I've finished mowing the lawn. And sitting here in my driveway, drinking a cold one out of an aluminum can, I enjoy the late afternoon's summer breeze. It feels good against the sweat of my labor. And I think these things as deer fly bites at my ankles, and I want to kill it. ~Jonathan Westbrook