finding calm in the wild - belonging

We sat on the edge of the little concrete bridge.
We ate the apples I'd brought in my pockets.
We fed the cores to our dog.

We listened to the water and we breathed the cool air.
All around us, as the blackberries tangled through the undergrowth and the leeches sought out our ankles in the moss... everything just was.
Going about its day to day.
Living and dying just like yesterday and the day before.

The air that cycled through our lungs, moments before photosynthesized into breathability. The water that fell through the land, running beneath you, made of the seas and the rain and the tears your grandmother cried. Running home and being home at the same time.
The leeches made of the carbon from the big bang that sought your ankle, also made from the carbon from the big bang.

And there in the busy stillness of ecosystems cycling through themselves, you found a momentary peace.
We belong to our ecosystems too. We belong to the plants we feed carbon dioxide and the bacteria that live in our guts. We belong to the ecosystem of our friends and family. We belong to the ecosystem of the food we eat and the farmers we support. And in there, in the middle of that great web... we just are. We still are, even in the face of covid-19. Even in the darkness of the unknown.

We are found in the connections we knew and the connections we forgot.