And so what if it is meaningless?
So what if all this life is nothing but
Carbon, flickers of electricity, and other
Complicated things?
Should the trees cease to unfurl their leaves,
To turn sunlight into food, to house
caterpillars and ants?
Should the birds stop singing, stop nesting
And flying? Should
Fireflies be still, no green floating
Lights in the grass at dusk?
Should wolves cease howling, fish sink to the bottom
And all the flowers stop blooming?
After all, isn\'t all this meaningless?
Should rain stop falling, and rivers stop running,
And oceans recede back into the earth?
Perhaps no music should ever have been
Played; no culinary craft discovered
Language is certainly frivolous in light of all
This Great Big Nothingness, and, oh!
Darling, how dare you ever savor
Some sweet kiss
When you know
\"It didn\'t mean a thing\"?
Balderdash. Cowardice - this idea
That when meaning is not
Explicit
It doesn\'t exist at all.
What nonsense that meaning given
Is less noble than
Meaning found.
Can you imagine a world with no wings?
Wings allow animals to fly but do not
Mean \"freedom\" - until we say they do,
Until we say flying means freedom to us
Then, all of sudden, living in a world with so many wings
-Feathered, leathery, black, colorful, opaque-
Well, it makes you feel something
And such a wonder it is to feel, yes?
To hear and see and touch and understand?
What if we\'re alive to sing songs, to name colors,
To get to know the Earth like a
Lover desires to know their Beloved?
What if we\'re alive to be artists, linguists,
and mathematicians? To unravel
The mysteries of this vast, unfolding Universe,
And still to notice the butterfly resting in the sunlight?
Quiet eyes and
Knowing smiles
We exhale so leaves can inhale
And we\'re wise to notice
How graceful
The fawn is
Even as death looms
In all the forest\'s shadows