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