It’s early and I’m walking the dogs
and the air feels cold and thin
and the sunlight feels cold and thin
and it’s filtering through wispy clouds
mare’s tails and angel wings and all sorts of other beings
up there
the Cloud People catching the slant of the early morning light
and making the almost-winter world look almost black and white.

I’m thinking about the women I know
how strong and wise and wild they are
and how I was told long ago
that I should orient towards them
and learn from them
and circle with them

But oh, I also love the men
the men I know are wise and kind
and strong with tender love
for the Earth and us
(the wild and wise women)
and it gives me hope that together we’ll find
a way through this mess to the other side.

Together, all of us
individuating into our most authentic selves
unique and beautiful and whole
not like a monad
(although underneath that’s what we are)
but like a forest with trees and shelves
of lichen-covered stones and and grass
and mycelium all stretched out
in the soil down below
each of us playing a perfect role

An ecosystem of all of us and the planet and sky
and beyond, even, into the great unknown.

Anyway, I digress.
the point is, I love us.
and I love the thin cold air
and the thin cold sunlight
and the Cloud People making
mare’s tails and angel wings
and all sorts of other things
up there
catching the early morning light
and making the almost-winter world
look almost black and white.