Meaningful Relationship

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

The dew-dampened swallowtail

braves her first flight of the day,

heavy with night on her wings

but compelled to risk everything

for voices calling out to her to nectar

them into service.

We can’t do this alone,

this gifting of ourselves,

this making meaning of

our embodiment.

Everything is longing for you to give

it purpose through relationship.

Inhale plant.

Exhale animal.

Inhale plant.

Exhale animal…

The ochre-colored grasshopper

half-floating, half-sunk

in the water bucket

showered my hand with dainty kisses

when I lifted him, dripping,

and kept him company in the sun

until he could cast into the

grasses and strum.

Today, it was our task

to love each other.

Tomorrow, the birds will sing

for me as I leave them

an offering of striped

sunflower gratitude.

The toad will wink at me

with his left golden-orb

and puff his heavenly body

when I pass him on the

muddied trail,

saying, “Hello Handsome.”

There is no end to the possibilities

of what we could do for each other.

Sit with that for a spell.

~

 “How can I help?”

With these four words,

you can live

the meaning of life.

With these four words,

we can make a world.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems" 

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