I’m the One

The snake that slid alongside the
river shouted “No! No! I’m the river!”

The reflection of stars in the cistern
pool hummed to itself “Now I’m the stars!”

The successful surgeon looked at his
knife and said quite simply “I’m

the giver of life”

But each must bear what
rocks bear in an avalanche down

to the base of a cliff

And none can say “I’m the first one down”
or “without me the king would

lose his crown”

There’s no room for two
in the space of light

so the wise one abdicates
that only

one full light shine

And the flood of it reach to the
top of the stairs

and to the very bottom
where the farthest stars are

---

7/25/2009 (From Stretched Out on Amethysts)

Categories: Poems