I Envy the Small Things
I envy the small things
The ones too far below
For us to ever pay attention to
The furred things, scurrying and scared
Twitching and running away--
—jumping and running to
Always with a destination
One we’ll never understand
The feathered things, darting in and out
And always dying, always falling--
—always rising somewhere else
Brittle bones and tiny eyes
Carried on a wind we cannot see
The many-legged crawling things
Inching along in the dirt and the grass
Harmful or helpful but always gross--
—but always needed
We tried to pick favorites and always pick wrong
The green and the growing things
Big and tall, small and fruitful--
—smaller and sporous
Everywhere and yet
We so often act like they aren’t
The very smallest things, too small
For even the keenest eye to see
First life, first death--
—and everything in between
We often forget them, the littlest ones
Living beneath our feet and
In our breaths
I envy those smallest things most
The ones that still have a chance
The ones we’ll leave behind
The ones who’ll start anew
For the world will never be so broken that
Something cannot crawl
Wriggling and glistening and raw
Out of the salty remains of the sea
And into the light
The ones too far below
For us to ever pay attention to
The furred things, scurrying and scared
Twitching and running away--
—jumping and running to
Always with a destination
One we’ll never understand
The feathered things, darting in and out
And always dying, always falling--
—always rising somewhere else
Brittle bones and tiny eyes
Carried on a wind we cannot see
The many-legged crawling things
Inching along in the dirt and the grass
Harmful or helpful but always gross--
—but always needed
We tried to pick favorites and always pick wrong
The green and the growing things
Big and tall, small and fruitful--
—smaller and sporous
Everywhere and yet
We so often act like they aren’t
The very smallest things, too small
For even the keenest eye to see
First life, first death--
—and everything in between
We often forget them, the littlest ones
Living beneath our feet and
In our breaths
I envy those smallest things most
The ones that still have a chance
The ones we’ll leave behind
The ones who’ll start anew
For the world will never be so broken that
Something cannot crawl
Wriggling and glistening and raw
Out of the salty remains of the sea
And into the light
Originally Published in New Reader Magazine