#humans
CHILDREN OF THE STARS
When we gaze up at a starry sky…stars with a variety of names…
the distance between the stars and us…makes all stars look the same.
But that doesn’t stop us from letting out a contented silent sigh
when we marvel at their beauty as they shine across the sky.
Most stars are made of hydrogen and helium…
they form their core…their crust…
with trace amounts of carbon, calcium, nitrogen and iron
which the astronomers and poets call stardust.
It’s interesting to note…even though they spend most of their time
with distant planets …like Jupiter and Mars…
when it comes to our entire universe…we are children of the stars.
Because we are mostly made of stardust
let me astronomically explain:
There is calcium in our bones…iron in our veins
carbon in our souls and nitrogen in our brains.
In fact an astute astronomer might be happy to proclaim…
how we’re are all stars upon this earth…with a variety of names.
Which makes me wonder…
Perhaps there is some meaning…in how we’ve found a way…
to see all the stars as beautiful….when we gaze at them from far away…
Perhaps the problem lies in these human eyes of ours.
Perhaps we look too closely at all the children of the stars.
Perhaps the best way to view us is to take a step back…
to where we don’t see our many differences…in our colors, shapes and names…
far enough away…to where we all look the same….
Far enough so, when we view each other…across this world of ours…
we only see the beauty in all the children of the stars.
A LITTLE MORE LIKE THE BIRDS
We are accustomed to a variety birds who, after we fill our feeders, find a way
to fly up, perch a while and have a snack or two every day.
It’s usually the same birds each day with quiet smiles we greet
but recently a Rose-breasted grosbeak happened by for a bite to eat.
We realized when it came to our visitors
he was a different bird from all the rest
by the bright red triangle like a Superman emblem emblazoned on his chest.
He visited the feeder off and on…overcoming his initial instinctive fear
then brought along his son or daughter…when he knew the coast was clear.
What we witnessed next was one of the beauties of nature…
a beauty that’s second to none…
when that rose-breasted grosbeak took seeds from our feeder
and fed them to his son…
Or daughter…it’s difficult to tell since I’m not an ornithologist.
but son or daughter this is one moment we wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
Because as we watched the father feed his fledgling…
as they performed this beautiful gastronomic ballet…
we were reminded of the circle of life and the important part that parents play.
How all parents want to keep their offspring safe…are tryin to do their best
whether it’s a human being like me…or a bird with a red triangle on its chest.
How all parents should be feeding, housing, protecting and celebrating
the little ones whose lives they all had a big part in creating.
As I look around at what we humans are doing to one another…
with our wars, our prejudices…our abusive and hateful words….
I sometimes wish we were less like humans…
and a little more like the birds.