Once Upon a Planet

Once upon a planet

before time was invented,

it didn’t matter how long it took

for creatures to grow, to shift,

to become better partners

with their habitats.

They just did, because

they just were

and that was that – no need

to question motives

or fabricate right and wrong.

Everything was in motion,

an unhurried migration

with no more ambitious goal

than alignment,

survival.

We have since declared time

to be retroactive,

evolution to be purposeful,

extinction inevitable.

We number the aeons of a species

with the same breath as

the individuals remaining –

time a construct of our minds,

death a product of our deeds.

We don’t know the half

of what we’ve lost

in trying to find ourselves.