All That I Can Be
By John Thomas Dodds
only ever one glass of wine
no matter how beautiful the pair might seem together,
each crafted individually, exquisitely unique
engendered with a particular essence
a minion among snowflakes, crystals, stars.
Yet nothing about us uniquely other than
one person, an individual cell, a single being, being human,
one body, one mind
one soul of an old and scarly cat,
smugly contemplating tolerance.
Everything we love expresses how we feel
about this organ of water and air,
this mind of matter and darkness,
this exposed soul of a universal want and need.
To plant the seed
that I am the earth I stand upon,
I live in light and love
I breathe my air
I admire the flower that I am
that grows upon the earth I nurture
with my tears of joy
for as I turn from day to day
the wind I create caresses my body.
I am the earth
I am all that I see, all that I feel
all that I can be.
If we were one light
how brilliant would we shine.
The heavens would cease running away
and look back upon us
as the star over Bethlehem
or the light of Mecca.
If we were one surface
monumentally varied and etched
with the wisdom of ages
what a beautiful color our skin would be
blinded by the light and sensitive to the touch.
If we were one breath,
drawing in everything that has been,
nurturing every pore of our being,
in an understanding
that with a sigh of recognition
we are the earth
all that was, is, and will be
then, and all that we can see
is what we imagine love to be
