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accolades, compliments, rewards, and shiny things
are a detriment to a greater reward;

win this, win that, and bow your soul.
say "Thank you" and leave quietly.

do this repeatedly. continuously.

i personally hope to become a humble snake.
but, i must follow the correct metamorphosis.

i stand now, under my hard, cold bones.
i am ready;

send the awards my way so i can learn.

if i do not learn, make me stand taller.
make these femurs grow longer and stronger.

put me under a spotlight of greatness,
ok, i close my eyes and bow.

     i lose my pelvis.

praise me with loving, kindhearted words.
i bow.

     i lose my femurs.

tell me about the impact I have made.
i bow.
     i lose my knee caps.

shower me with hugs and speeches in-honor-of me.
i bow.

     i lose my tibias and fibulas.

make others change because of me.

i bow.

     i lose my feet.

make me change because of You.

i bow.

     i lose my arms, everything else, my head.

say out loud, "You have done so much!"

i bow.

     i slither away. 

:::

on one level,

it tells us to stay apart,

stay broken, stay unchanged, stay quiet.

on a higher level,

it tells us to stay open, stay optimistic, stay anywhere

but where you currently stay. move!

stay curious, stay smiling.

low ignorance says, Don't be.

high ignorance says, Let it be.

:::

there is no such thing

as cheap flowers;

what kind of blasphemy is that?

gardens would not exist if flowers

did not see one another as an extension
of his or her own soil.

what is a rose over a daisy? a sunflower over a carnation?
baby's breath over a tulip?

how they open is how they love.
one opening is not of better value than the other.

only a bee, a butterfly, or a gnat
drunk enough belligerently suckles

the same truth-juice.

hungover, they all fly wildly
knowing the same juice they drank

was the same mother's milk
that gave them wings.