The Inheritance

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

I open the door to the world every morning,

anticipating, wondering

who will be the first to greet me

as I step onto the earth with eyes still soft

from dreaming.

Will it be pine, or pine warbler?

Who will be beside me

when I kneel at the pond,

walk through the wood,
cross the meadow?

Will I notice them?

Will they notice me?

Never are my days lived alone.

Never are my breaths less than

an exchange of breaths with some

other soul.

Everything wants to be known.

So, for awhile each day, I tend to this

mutual desire for belonging,

Saying, “Hello pretty girl,” to the doe.

stroking the pussy willows.

meditating beside a frog.

This is how I apprentice to love, 
and learn to speak those forgotten words

that acknowledge every living thing
as a simple miracle.

When the day comes that my body

no longer needs to walk out the door

in order to know this fine world,  

I pray that some young person is

stepping across their threshold,

taking a deep breath in the morning air,

and realizing,

this is my inheritance.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems
In honor of Earth Day

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