Three.

Does the rain beg the sun's forgiveness
for diminishing its light?
Do the clouds?
Do the trees with their stretching limbs
or mountains with their swelling peaks?

Or does the sun win every war
eventually,
no matter who survives each
battle,
and so every force
makes every attempt
it can possibly muster
to take a bite
out of that blazing yellow ball?

But why would they all
go to such lengths
just to fail
at every bend?

Perhaps because
a single wound
is worth more
that quiet compliance,
a single morsel
is worth more
than an empty stomach.