Millipede

MILLIPEDE

Across the world beneath my feet
a long,
brown millipede is moving, travelling,
its body flowing over barriers,
small stones, thin leaves, and stalks of grass,
gracefully.

Its simple eyes see light and shade-
Its two antennae feel what is before.

Segmented yet
so flexible,
it rides an onward ripple of frail legs-
though not a thousand, they are surely many.

I'm reminded of the fable
of a poor, self-conscious centipede
who lost the power to move
when asked how it was done;
but gliding on a wave of limbs,
this small creature knows.

There is no moral here,
though this it shows:
like the clouds, the winds, the waters,
life flows.