paper animals

you have a right

to disagree

with anything you find outside

and even

within your own mind

you have a right

to buck the system

as you see fit

—to collect

and shed

attachments

where

and when

it suits you

regardless

of the expectations

and opinions

of friends, family members,

and authority figures

and

you have a right

to neglect

all of these things

to reject

all callings

all teachings

all intuitive knowledge

and experience

the fall out

of the lack

of their effects

in a song

that will

undoubtedly

sing the same refrain

no less

there is nothing for any of us

but freedom

even

inside of every notion

every gesture

every moment

we use to deny it

we remain

creatures of creation

in perpetual greeting

calling to one another

across the cosmos

close enough

to feel the other

inside of every cell

as we stand

motionless

within the heart

of all that's moving

shedding

and regenerating

every particle

probing the aether

of this only moment

to emerge again

holding probabilities

in the palms of our hands

—paper animals

we fold into being

and release, then

to imaginings

for their own completion

alighting once more

upon our shoulders

in some other now  

to preen awhile,

chittering in our ear

about where they've been

and where they're going

and all of this

all of this

is an act

born of a right

as native

and unnoticed to us

as our breathing

as we pass, gently,

through fields

of perpetual dreamings

easing the tall grass

along our fingertips

and lifting our hands again

from time to time

into the clouds

humming & shifting

all around

---

Image: Aycan Beyer