My Neighbors

Who are my neighbors?

They are the sprouts of grass,
they are schools of minnows,
they are grasshoppers,
they are field mice,
they are snails,
they are raindrops.

My neighbor is a spotted owl,
A black rhinoceros,
A bluebird,
A condor.


My neighbor is of no utility to me,
She makes me sad about myself.

My neighbor is your child and all children.
My neighbor is currently on death row,
An unwanted pebble inside a rock.
Condemned baby, round-bellied mama,
I am in the next cell over.
Cheering on your deaths
In hopes it puts off my own.

My neighbors are all the elders and species,
Once I learn to love each neighbor as myself,
Realize there is no difference
Between the graceful and the useful
Between mud and blood,
Between sinner and saint
Once God is accepted in all these forms
We need not be born again.