Because we dream and want and carry on,
we think we're exempt. We think we're
above working the Earth on all fours.
We often miss the point.
A bear may feel like a hummingbird
the moment he catches a salmon,
but his paws are still paws.
As for me, I feel like a horse chasing
birds that cross the sky. When they fly
out of view, I know I'm a hawk born as
a horse. All poets are. A tangle of wings
and hooves. Trying to run in the sky
and fly on Earth.
So it's useless to pine for your lover
to be delicate, if she's really a cheetah.
Or for your mother to see clearly,
if her path is that of a bat.
It doesn't mean we can't try.
Just that we work
with what we're given.
~ from Reduced to Joy (Viva Editions 2013)
