potent stump
I am an animal
from birth to death—
a vessel of flesh
bound to Earth by the cosmos.
I mourn like an elephant,
I play like a cat,
I sing like a bird,
fight like a monkey,
craft like a beaver,
and hide like a chameleon.
God, why have you forsaken me?
You gave me your intellect,
your brain,
your fears.
God, why have you forsaken me?
Why couldn’t I remain unaware?
These systems… these things, these laws—
why, God?
Just to keep the cattle obedient?
I have the pride of a lion,
the envy of a peacock,
the wrath of a bull.
I have the sloth of a sloth,
the lust of a dusky dolphin,
the gluttony of a wolverine,
and the greed of a crow.
Did you have fun
making me an amalgamation
of the desires you despise the most?
And here I am,
being born again—
son of the cosmos,
YOUR son,
bound to an ever-dying vessel of meat.
I wonder
what my mission will be this time.
harsh lintel
astral stump
misty river
viscid bloom
languid mountain