this me I call myself

I loosen my grasp

and fall into we

the flow in which

we all rush river fast

and meander river slow

full of rocks and weeds and twigs and fish

algae and tiny insects

skimming the surface of the stream

me dissolves

well-disguised narcissism

resolves in I-Thou

the collective us

I carry you

you carry me

no matter the color of your skin

or reproductive organs

or who you sleep with

or the way in which you know god

the animating force of life

enmeshed, embodied, emoted, ensnared

and transformed

what grace thou art

when self bows down

at the feet of other

and tight-fisted opinion

washes the soil of hate and pride

from both our toes

and we are made new

in the clean, cool river

 

“I Thou” – Melissa Kircher