I am an ant
insignificant in size
one of too many
working through life
in service to power
I am powerless
joining in the belief
that I matter
I am needed
I have something to offer
In wonder I crawl
infinitely simple
destroyed by the smash
of a large hand
Not the hand of God
which does not seem to exist
Only the steel of a sword
or the grimy smell of money
host our time of living
What is my purpose?
How can I rise?
Must I lie to you?
Must I lie to myself?
I strive to be Queen of the mount
the mistress of God
the Goddess
To shape lives into righteousness
to give birth to innocence
the innocence of trust
to be trusted in return
I want to hold power in my heart
like the solar energy of hope
a light to hold the expansion
of each and every heart
I wish to believe
in the circle of our animal existence
where we depend on one another
and lift each other up
For our brains to perceive
For our eyes to have sight
and cry together
I am an angel
with wings to envelop
all human experience
To care like a mother
for the smallest corporeal existence
for the weakest emotional expression
for the frightened
who strike out to survive
only to fall
forgotten
I will remember
our breath is the wind
Know we all can fly
Rebecca O. Jones lives in San Rafael and is a member of the O’Hanlan Art Center Poetry Collective in Mill Valley, The Redwoods Writers in Sonoma County and Marin Poetry Center.
