being human

i am going to die 
before the sound departs 
before the fear is opened 
and its pathways lead to freedom 
 
i am going to die 
before a new and ancient house is built 
but not before old rooms are dismantled 
some so close to my heart, will break 
i will let them go, the ones that have to burn 
 
i am going to die knowing that i was not enough, 
my body rigid, my mind pliant, 
on a bed of leaves 
with dread, with ease 
 
i am going to die in water, 
pushed, pulled,
from grief to relief, 
having floated towards understanding, 
in seven-generation intervals, 
a part of its ensemble 
 
i am going to die with and for the earth, the constant truth, the slow tears, 
and maybe i will catch the first warm notes of the sparrow's song 
before the all receives me 
 
i have lived on the backs of those before me 
and i am going to die on that fertile ground 
in the unbroken struggle for harmony, 
the history that has eclipsed the frame of predator and prey, 
deriding absolutes; questioning, critiquing. 
 
i am going to die kind, having been, 
now, always        being 
                                 human