Deadly Hierarchy

Across my worn rug
dares to crawl
a solitary bug in transit
to where I do not know

It's out of place
existence offends
my natural order sensibilities

I identify the intruder
as a member
of the lowly beetle family
having seen 
a National Geographic Special
on these insects
a while back on TV

Outraged as only
the privileged can be
I leap up from comfort
invoking my instincts to protect
me and my family
and with my iron boot squished
the life form beneath
my dominant species
simply because I can

As I scraped
it's splattered remains
off the bottom
of my size eleven weapon
I was struck
by a lightening bolt of conscience
and wondered
if the extermination
of this living being
who was no real threat
was even necessary
in the grand scheme

Perhaps this discomforting
pang of guilt
was a foreboding warning
that someday we humans
will be on the receiving end
of a more powerful foot