Sitting at a light in my car

Not present, thoughts afar

I slapped a gnat

On my arm

In an instant's fell swoop

I did it irreparable harm

And yet there it still lay, stilled

On my lap, offering itself just to say hi

And here I am, living to tell

Of what the gnat came to me to say

That love rules the day

And lights up the night

In ways

Not to be measured by height or might

By tall or small

Not by duration nor perceived hierarchies in creation

That if only we knew of our kind

Of how connected, precious, we are to life

If only we were aware of the ever-present all in all as light

Taking our time, we'd respond always, in all ways, in kind

And so it is

That instead of saying hi to a friend and then letting it fly

With forcefulness, because one lacked the resourcefulness, it had to die

Yet this ignorant way need not remain

As I and all learn of our better way

To not bludgeon our way

But to care for, to tend to, to fairly play

This is the way we learn to walk, then run, then soar

...mike