To the gods, the individual won't matter.
But we've said No to that. Here, you count.

Perhaps the gods, their tornadoes and weapons of mass terror
Are stronger than us. But we can read and count

And our music is more ethereal and real
Than theirs. They must divide to conquer us

But we have realized division is a form of multiplication
And have multiplied. Now there are too many

Of us to count. But we have learned there are
More planets in the universe than people on the planet.

A planet for each one. But we would rather stay
Together, continue to discover what we're living for.

Every human, and every animal, will count. And then
We'll invite back even the gods themselves.

Engineers know
to build in redundancies
when lives depend
not necessarily exact replicas of the primary unit
but systems whose secondary function
is to carry the load when a primary system
fails.
          The principle applies
to all organisms and the inanimate
objects designed to support them.
But the sun
and the rock
that is earth
need no redundancies.
Burning, cooling
one
of each, they disintegrate
without feeling
for the mantle or the planets.

Some individuals
may, it turns out, be irreplaceable.
There is not always another girl singer
this one is the only one for us
at this time, while we're alive
in this place with the random weather.
The one singer, leader
the one who interprets God's words
when she is assassinated, terminated, released
we are not released, velocity
registers a mandatory, momentarily momentous
palpitation that is gone
unlike Shakespeare
so far. She
was not the sun.
But she was found
to be irreplaceable, unique
her song.

Is it stress,
or loss, despair and survival
we must discuss.
                                    Stress is just the symptom
of a universe intent to destroy the individual
before it births new life. It sends the dogs
after us, after the holocaust, in the tattered ruins
of our city.
                        There is this despair and expectation
of destruction, but somewhere there is still also
simple sky blue,
flowers among railroad ties,
true love between ****** partners.

Is it ***,
or love, companionship and reliableness
we must expect.
                                   ***, nothing but laying my head
at your ****, can interest me sometimes. Your legs
lead to a pleasure that seems infinite and smells
perfect.
                  So there is this tenderness, a connection
like a suction to the biological that is ephemeral
as snow on the ground,
one elk in aspen,
death and nothing less.

Don't
Overthink
Uniqueness,
Be
True.

I am not a number
I am not a cypher.
I am a real live person
Not a hypothetical one.
I am part of a portion
Of the total population
Not an ignorable thing
Only fit for eliminating
If it suits a demographic,
Budgeted body politic;
Something looked upon
As something better gone.
By some venal banker,
Number crunching ******.

I matter.
Please remember I’m real
And the turning of the wheel
Might make you a rich man
But your carefully worded plan
Might crush me underneath.
Is this what you bequeath
To the society that bore you?
Is it the proper thing to do?

I am not a figure, a jot.
A squiggle on a page, not
Some negotiable loss
Decided upon by a boss
Who wants a higher bonus
Jettisoning an onus
Foisted on him by liberals.
My problems are not literal,
They are real and due
To be looked through
For a way to be humane
In matters mundane,
And not as profitable.
Don’t be despicable.

I matter.
Please remember I’m real
And the turning of the wheel
Might make you a rich man
But your carefully worded plan
Might crush me underneath.
Is this what you bequeath
To the society that bore you?
Is it the proper thing to do?

Talk to your accountants
And see what the amount is
To do things for fiscal gain
Without causing people pain.
There has to be a way
We can all have our day;
Our place in the sun
Things good for one
That are also good for all
And don’t cause a fall
In the economy and health
For those without wealth.
If the rich lose big gains
They will still eat again,
But the poor just may not
With what little they’ve got.

I matter.
Please remember I’m real
And the turning of the wheel
Might make you a rich man
But your carefully worded plan
Might crush me underneath.
Is this what you bequeath
To the society that bore you?
Is it the proper thing to do?

My step is heavy
and my heels crack like the road beneath them

your advice on elegance
falls into those cracks.

A missing link
I don't even know what that means
keep your ****** coding
and yes, I burnt down those trees.

You need to, sometimes,
it gives the ground new time to grow,
recycle nutrients and now just breathe
without your suffocating seeds to sow.

So yes, it's terribly blackened
and maybe no-one will ever come back
but after everything that's happened
I'll happily settle for that.

I just want to know there's another chance.
There are always other chances out there.  Millions, in fact.
Not with others, but with them.
We both know that's unlikely.
But there's a possibility?
There's always a possibility, but they'll probably find another before giving you another shot.
What if they don't find somebody else?
Then you might.
What if I don't either?
Then, based on how you both think and behave, they'll be content and you'll be self-defeated.
How could they content all alone?
They are their own person; they're fine with themselves.  You, however, are not.
Should I be?
*At least consider it.

I remember when we were One,
Me and you.
Together, us, inseperable
Before it all.

Catastrophe.
War, that killed,
Emotions, people, our love.
That split us into one,
Two, three, four
All the same
We are no more.

No longer is our love,
My love.
We are individuals.
We are many.

We have lost us.
And we've lost ourselves.
Before we became
Ourselves.

From a silence to a simple buzz,
A gentle hum slowly grows.
Never a whinge or a moan,
Just a quiet conversation.
Not lonely today, a few friends join.
Moving swiftly,
Weaving around the room.
In and out, bouncing off each other,
Opportunities as open as the door.
Not worrying what others think, brave Fly.
Surrounded by predators,
Poised and ready to pounce.
Fly, you don't care?
At least you've fulfilled life.
Not fearing death, courageous Fly.
Friends always by your side,
The promises they make and never break.
Loyal company, nonidentical,
Individual and unique.
Not trying to follow suit, but be content.

Dear Fly, you remind me of me,
Happy alone, but worth more as three.