Here I Stand
Here I stand for I can do no other,
tied to my neighbours, my enemies, friends,
cousins and siblings, ancestors, offspring,
pushing and shoving and reaching for light,
building up brawn and strengthening sinews,
bartering messages, crisscrossing limbs,
digging for dead things, minerals, water,
counting the moons and the seasons and years,
watching the passing of fleeting shadows,
mayflies who only consider themselves,
feeling the blows of the cutthroat axes,
rooted, beheaded, defenceless but strong.