Who are we?
Certainly not them!
They think so oddly
who do they think they are?
How dare they?
But wait
don’t they feel
the same way about us?
So maybe we can go beyond
us and them
and expand our us
to this roiling
human yearning
but why stop there?

Mama polar bear
wants her child
to be safe and
nourished and free
just as I do
so maybe we can go beyond
human and animal
and expand our us
to this family
of sentient beings
but why stop there?

The tree across the street
reaches her arms to the sky
curls her toes into the earth
and dances in the wind
the rock that sits beside her
tips its face toward the sun
relaxes into the ground
and waits through the night
they are like me
so maybe we can go beyond
and expand our us
to our earthbound kin
but why stop there?

Suns and moons
rocks and trees
bears and humans
we share star stuff
children of the universe
yearning and dancing
pretending to be separate
when in fact
we are one