You see me on the street, but you do not see me.

I am, but a speck of dust caught in the beam of a streetlight.

Insignificant in this grand and glorious scheme,

But not so insignificant to those who cherish me…as I cherish them.

Mother as I to my wife…wife as I to my daughter,

Father as I to my son…all cherish me, as I them.

Miniscule in this tidal pool of humanity as I may be

This robe I wear befits all that breathe this air,

Fed from the heartlands fertile soil,

Pleasure in grain-fed fowl or grass-fed cattle.

In you dear friends, I see a reflection of me in your life-worn faces;

Neither success nor poverty can separate us in our final hours.

You as I shall become equal to the grasses blade,

The acorn and maple leaf, meal worm and maggot

Shall all become our equals as we return to the earth whence we came.

There is no escape from this inescapable truth.

Though you persevere to nullify my worth, you can not;

For my worth lies not in your perceptions,

But in those of they who loved me.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~