respond to a child

when a child runs up

with something to show you or give you

stop what you are doing

look, listen, respond

because then he knows

he is worthwhile

and what he does matters

you needn’t over-praise

acknowledgment serves his needs

rejection eviscerates his sense of self

after the storm

sol has settled to mere colossal splurges

of solar wind hurling into space

without favoritism toward life on earth

survival is our business although

our shortsighted greed and propensity

for hatred seem more than adequate

to secure annihilation on our own

tangled roots

 untangle the roots

of the blackberry vines

and find interminable

inter-relationships

too many to allow

for annihilation

untangle the roots

of human civilization

and find it is the inter-relationships

that lend us strength

against annihilation