The Self and the Mulberry

 I wanted to see the self, so I looked at the mulberry.

It had no trouble accepting its limits,
yet defining and redefining a small area
so that any shape was possible, any movement.

It stayed put, but was part of all the air.

I wanted to learn to be there and not there
like the continually changing, slightly moving
mulberry, wild cherry and particularly the willow.

Like the willow, I tried to weep without tears.

Like the cherry tree, I tried to be sturdy and productive.

Like the mulberry, I tried to keep moving.

I couldn't cry right, couldn't stay or go.

I kept losing parts of myself like a soft maple.

I fell ill like the elm.
 That was the end
of looking in nature to find a natural self.

Let nature think itself not manly enough!
Let nature wonder at the mystery of laughter.

Let nature hypothesize man's indifference to it.

Let nature take a turn at saying what love is!

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