Life

Our DNA flows
In the river of time
Branching new streams
Off older ones

Each individual
Part of two others
Who were themselves
A combination
Of many
Stretching back
Up the river of time

Following fertile soils
Across the world
Back to Africa
When a small tribe
Of humans
Chance and choice
Foot and hand
Imagination
and invention
Lead to our great
Collective journey

The river of time
Moves forward
Carrying the genes
Of individuals
Past, present
And future
We branch, change
Separate and recombine
Flowing into
An unknowable future

The time river
Pushes the water
Of biology
Like gravity
Drawing water
From clouds
To land
Where it fits
Perfectly
With the sensuous
Contours of soil
Sparking life
Into existence

Half branching
Of a self
Combines
With half branch
Of another
Making
A beautiful bubble
Animated
By the current
Of life

Each bubble
A new child
More than the
Sum of halves
Self-aware
In their place
Their time

At times
Looking back
Up the time-river
Toward the past
Or Looking
Forward
With imagination
Toward the future
From the seeming
Calm
Of the present

At times
If mystically
Inclined
Spreading
Awareness
In all directions
At once
From the calm
Center
Into the spatial
Depths

I am the child
Of two others
Their individual
Branching streams
Coming together
In the river of time
Place and biology
They subside
Absorbed
Into the soil
Evaporated
Into the air

Their life passed
In part to me
Then in part
To my beautiful
Children
Who carry our parts
Forward
Moving down
The river of time
Into an uncertain
World
Of potential
Beautiful
Branching
Of their
Own

I too
Will subside
Into soil and air
Giving life back
To the world
Passing on parts
Of myself
And my stream
Of ancestors
Into the branching
River of bio-time
And the immense
Memory
Tenderly held
That becomes
Our Cultural
Landscape

Tell me
Time river
When I am gone
As my children
Look back
Into history
Or forward
Imagining
Their future
From the seeming
Calm
Of their present
What
Will they
See

I hear
Silence
Feel a familiar
Void
Sense
Deep currents
The time river
Speaks
In the language
Of complexity
Potentiality
Choice
And chance

Not listening
For certainty
Anymore
As if nature
Is a machine
But sensing
And trusting
As part of
The many
Intertwining
Currents
Of life

Where
Half and half
Are more
Than one
Flowing
In the deep
Rich
Unfathomable
River of time
Life
And mind