2674. Poem: Meaningful Relationship

By Jamie K. Reaser, Wild Life: New and Selected Poems, 2012-2017

Photo: 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.

© 2012-2017/Jamie K. Reaser
Published in "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems"
Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

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