where we are within where everything else is

 

Relationship

an atom by itself is as nothing,

only in connection to other atoms, in quantity,

does its self become real,

and able to act substantially upon the world,

our world is of atoms joined with their like

and then joined with their other,

hydrogen joins with oxygen, and we have water,

such thoughts come to me today, 

maybe 2 miles into my hike,

I walk the ridges and watercourses

saved near me by the Triangle Land Conservancy,

I think and seek to understand and plot where I am

by connecting it in my spatial understanding

to where I was and to where I aim to be,

it's relationship,

the relationship of where I am in space

to where all else is,

how much is that like where I find my values?

I feel, and then I think,

and I consider what actions to undertake 

as to how to move within the world

so as to get closer to where I think we should be,

we humans can hate to be alone,

we can feel lost,

undefined, unknown, unappreciated, unconnected,

the bridge is a powerful symbol for us,

for with it, we can access the other,

the other place, the other person,

and we do not feel so lost and alone,

when social position, and thus destiny, was a given,

all knew their place within a larger whole, a chain of being,

we could find comfort in knowing that position within the whole,

yet that comfort was also a prison,

a genius of America, and also its potential tragedy,

is we believe the individual has the freedom 

to redefine self and relationship,

when it works, it's great,

and we find a new path

into new connections, new relationships,

a redefinition of where we are, where others are,

and this new world can feel so right,

and it can also feel so wrong and scary,

and we can feel lost and unsure,

we can be as if drowning

and push down others we fear,

enemies, immigrants, the other tribes,

I hope for better:

love can be a good answer 

to feeling lost and alone,

again, establishing relationship,

with a partner, with the calling of a job,

with the world outside our skin,

maybe nature can spark us 

to build relationship with it:

the mountains, the ocean, birds, flowers, 

the wolf and the bear and the elephant,

the trees around our homes, the gardens we tend,

and, if we're lucky, 

another person enlarges who we are,

such a relationship can ground us,

so that being alone and lost is less and less true,

since we better know where and who we are,

we can know ourselves home,

better than any GPS app can tell us where we are.

by Henry H. Walker

May 5, ‘25