The Family of All Things

wind above, fire below

Kennewick, Washington — Photo by Jonathan Potter ⓒ 2024

The family of all things,
as Mary Oliver put it,
is where we struggle to find our place.
When I think of my father's love
and the legacy of love he left,
I see myself standing there.

Then I think of my mother
and her grief in the wake of him
disappearing across the distant
horizon where the river
empties itself into the ocean
and the sun sets for us all.

But then I think of this dawn,
this sunrise on the river where
I stand among the wild geese and ducks
who seem to acknowledge my place
in a new way this morning, moving
around me with ancient love

and welcoming me even
as they send me on my way to
where every movement is a standing
still in the family of things
and where I will claim my proper place
to give love and receive it.

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