“I am he as you are he as you are me and
We are all together…,” as the old wise song goes.
If I am I because you are you, and you are
You because I am I, then both of us are far
From who either is. This logic most clearly shows
Separateness is folly. Why isn’t it banned?

We know who we are in terms of other people.
Interdependent systems, we do not exist
Without all others present. We each interact
With what is our environment, and our impact
Is an issue not inconveniently dismissed
By the few who are given too much damned control.

What I call the external world is just as much
My own body. My skin is but a bridge through which
The external flows back and forth just as the tide.
In the peace of connectedness I must reside.
Knowledge made useful is intended to enrich
Every part of me that has grown cold to the touch.

We’ve not been taught to feel this. Our culture demands
That we feel only some parts and ignore others.
It is driving us crazy as one whole species.
On the brink of extinction, we live our disease.
Intervention by our daughters and our mothers
Is the hope that the most of us well understands.