Hector’s Visit

he’s overcome
each time another animal chooses him
overjoyed they’d share a moment

today when the little dolphin
broke away from her pod
and frolicked all around the boat
saying hello a dozen ways
he was amazed

before that, when massive Toy Soldier
the show jumper nuzzled his shirt
he glowed at being touched

the little owl, blue penguin, purring cheetah
each animal he’s really met
says clearly to him
as if in his mother tongue
you are not alone
reconnects his hairless ape life
to the world of fur feather bone wild
his pressed palm feels a real heart beat
and remembers we’re all one

and someday
he’ll feel that in the tree and fern
skipping river and stinging wind
silent stars and now-cold stone
even the space between cells
the negative cloud where all’s uncertain
even there in the nothingness he’ll sense
we’re all one
he’s tethered to every last bit
including his four chickens
that haven’t yet hatched