All That I Can Be

By John Thomas Dodds

 

only ever one glass of wine

no matter how beautiful the pair might seem together,

each crafted individually, exquisitely unique

engendered with a particular essence

a minion among snowflakes, crystals, stars.

Yet nothing about us uniquely other than

one person, an individual cell, a single being, being human,

one body, one mind

one soul of an old and scarly cat,

smugly contemplating tolerance.

Everything we love expresses how we feel

about this organ of water and air,

this mind of matter and darkness,

this exposed soul of a universal want and need.

To plant the seed

that I am the earth I stand upon,

I live in light and love

I breathe my air

I admire the flower that I am

that grows upon the earth I nurture

with my tears of joy

for as I turn from day to day

the wind I create caresses my body.

I am the earth

I am all that I see, all that I feel

all that I can be.

If we were one light

how brilliant would we shine.

The heavens would cease running away

and look back upon us

as the star over Bethlehem

or the light of Mecca.

If we were one surface

monumentally varied and etched

with the wisdom of ages

what a beautiful color our skin would be

blinded by the light and sensitive to the touch.

If we were one breath,

drawing in everything that has been,

nurturing every pore of our being,

in an understanding

that with a sigh of recognition

we are the earth

all that was, is, and will be

then, and all that we can see

is what we imagine love to be

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