Thinning corn

I remember
standing at the head of a long row
of corn
seedlings
just beginning to grow
and stooping
working my way down the row
pulling the smaller
and weaker
to make room
for the crop to grow

Now I hear of those
who
with no more thought
than they might give
to thinning a corn seedling
will snuff out
a life
in embryo
just beginning
to grow

And I wonder
whose life it was
the one
that might have been?