Emerald leaves fondled by a gentle zephyr
Sway afore me tickling my imagination,
While billows braking over ancient rocks
Beat the rhythm to a symphony of reflection.

As I listen carefully lose my gaze into infinity
A horizon lit by dawn shades of vermilion
I know to be disguising what’s beyond,
Deep black space and a multitude of stars.

I direct my thought towards the myriad creatures
Populating my abode above and under
In the abysses of oceans and the highs of the sky
Roaming lands, a breath a heartbeat and I wonder

Upon life its meaning not, the philosophical
Conundrum but the word, a concept developed
By my species. Does life imply a breath a heartbeat
Or does a changing nature suffice? Why would we

And would we want to, bound life to animals and plants?
Do the mountains appear dead to us? The seas the rocks
The glittering minerals the river flows the waterfalls
The earth the sands the winds the oxygen we inhale

The countless particles frantically moving to compose
Them all and us within my abode? Their totality
Encompassing it all and beyond to reach space
Create spinning stars? Galaxies moving driven by forces

Only to incessantly evolve? I ponder,
What is life and why doesn’t my species acknowledge
That all is alive and no distinction can be made merely
Based on a breath and a heartbeat while all pulsates

A screaming notion of unity, intertwined and intricate
Connections, my synapses, a cosmic web englobing

A unique body we call Universe.

[Featured photo: Underwater art by Lexi Laine]