Poem: "The Earthborn"
This poem came out of the February 7, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siege, moonwolf1988, aldersprig, jenny_evergreen, and meeksp. It has been sponsored by Shirley Barrette. You can read more about otherkin online.
The Earthborn
We are all related --
the earthborn, ocean-blooded life
that has arisen on this world.
Though humans may walk on hind legs,
some of us remember what it is
to run fast on four feet through an ancient forest
or soar on wide, fine wings
through the open vault of the sky.
Hidden within the opera singer
lies the spirit of a wolf,
as insubstantial and fragrant as smoke.
The sandcat is there in the soldier
who slinks through a foreign desert
spilling a river of silent blood.
In the victim who curls up and waits
until the assailants grow bored and drift away
is the resilient wisdom of the possum.
The dancer's grace is sinuous,
supple as a snake,
not bounded by mammal bones.
Insults slide off skin as thick
as an aardvark's hide, proof against stinging ants,
as the geek digs blithely for hidden insights.
Some of us are awake to our other-selves,
still carry skills born of former bodies,
see beneath our monkey skins
to a common truth:
we are otherkin,
all related,
yet each uniquely gifted.