Because

Because you are here at this very time,
because dogs are pleased to run free,
because anything exists at all,
because the birds are moved to sing,
because it could not be any other way,
because old cats will curl up in the sun,
because there is a space between thoughts,
because all of the rhinos are nearly gone,
because the three times happen simultaneously,
because horses run wild in the high plateau,
because our words can only go so far,
because the lion sleeps tonight,
because the bigger the front, the bigger the back,
because fish need not seek for water,
because cold coffee is better than no coffee,
because the deer and the antelope play,
because some are here for the pure joy of it,
because we are those ones, regardless,
because we forget, only to remember again,
because the buffalo roam the vanishing prairie,
because everything eventually becomes its opposite,
because half of the species have already disappeared,
because we vote against our own interests,
because the elephants’ message goes unheard,
because we spend more to kill than to love,
because the cows stand frozen in their fields,
because we prolong a perpetual war with ourselves,
because the last Kauai O’o is now no more,
because the rain forests are being paved over,
because the tigers’ eyes are burning bright,
because radioactive waste pours into the sea,
because the eagles are dying of lead poisoning,
because the fires won’t stop burning,
because the rats are in the corn,
because the reason for anything is everything,
because the pangolins crouch low in hiding,
because the leaders are all corrupt,
because gorillas meander in the mists,
because nothing stays the same,
because the ants go marching two by two,
because the wheel spins round and round,
because the bees can’t take much more,
because this is a tourist destination,
because we still hunt whales,
because only love really matters,
because of the crows in wheatfields,
because the traffic grinds to a halt,
because the chickens are home to roost,
because we wish upon the stars,
because not all caterpillars become butterflies,
because the music never stops,
because the foxes have their dens,
because there is no escape,
because the breath goes in and out,
because the stomach goes up and down,
slowly, rhythmically, and because you are
kind, and warm, and steady in your devotion,
she will carefully climb up into your lap.
She will put her small head on your chest.
She will close her eyes and sigh softly,
even as she slips into an easy sleep.
Because God itself has come to be with you,
it will not occur to you to ask yourself,
“What have I done with my life?”

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