In the World
by Brigid Lowry
in the strange early morning half light we sit
in the cloudiness of our questioning we sit
in our madness and our clarity we sit
in the midst of too much to do we sit
in the warm arms of our shared sorrow we sit
in community and in loneliness we sit
in sweet exhaustion we sit
in the blazing energy of being alive we sit
here with the singing crickets
here with each electric birdsong
here with the rippling of breezes and the dry grasses
here with the cobwebs and the clouds
and the dusty road upon us
us in the sound and the sound in us
us in the world and the world in us
— from What Book!?, edited by Gary Gach
We Share the Same River
by Mark Nepo
Welcome Everyone
by Ellen Birx
Welcome everyone!
Rich and poor
Young and old
Women and men
Gay and straight
From every tribe and nation
From every noble tradition
Bring your gifts to the table.
Come celebrate our shared humanity.
Come honor our common ancestors —
Earth and stars
Human beings
Animal beings
Plant beings
Stone beings
All sentient and nonsentient
All hungry ghosts
Come join in love's feast.
— from Selfless Love, by Ellen Birx
