Belief

I believe in the promises of the sunrise.

I believe in the mysteries and dangers that night can bring.

I believe in the fickle friendship of the wind.

I believe in the  stubborn repetition of the ocean's ebb and flow.

I believe in the hard strength of trees and rocks.

I believe in the emotionless power of erosion
that sculpts mountains into valleys.

As long as the earth exists,
these are the things in which
I can believe.

Nature's beautiful, deadly, scientific rules
are steadfast and logical.

Nature takes no sides,
has no favorites.

And so has earned my belief.

Everything else is hope.

I can hope that humans one day learn
how to accept before they hate,
how to think before they act,
how to consider before they speak.

I can hope that humans one day learn
how to share before they take,
how to protect before they attack.

I hope these things,
but I don't believe them.

Not yet.
Because humans have so
so
so much to learn,
so far to go.

I sometimes wonder
if we humans do end up
destroying ourselves
will it happen
because we let it happen,
or will it happen
because
Nature
made it so?