...upon the passing of Nikki Giovanni

 I hit brakes for the flutter of the lights hoping it's not a deer

or a skunk or a groundhog
coffee splashes over the cup which I quickly put away from me
and into the empty passenger seat
I look . . .
relieved and exasperated ...
to discover I have just missed a big wet leaf
struggling . . . to lift itself into the wind
and live

from "Possum Crossing" by Nikki Giovanni

I read this morning that the poet Nikki Giovanni has passed away. This poem of hers reminds us that "we share the streets with more than trucks and vans and/ railroad crossings"-- a good thought, really. We tend to be insular, as human beings. Our needs are made a priority, especially when it comes to sharing space with other living creatures. And now, as it seems, with other people who are not "us." It's a sad commentary on how human beings have become so fractured, so focused inwardly, that we don't (as a group) acknowledge that we are part of a larger community of people, of living beings, struggling forward every day to make sense of it all.

Be kind. Be aware. Be humane.

C