Humus

Humanity’s a word that’s rooted
in the Latin, humus: earth, dirt, soil.
I knew this in my childhood, all analog,
when I played outdoors all day
never needing to report
where the wind had drawn me.
Now when the days of writing letters
have become intelligence that’s artificial,
we’ve forgotten the literal
ground of our being.

Another word that comes from humus
is humility, an attitude
terribly out of fashion to practice.
But see where lack of it,
where being pretentious about our place
as earthy beings has gotten us.
Now our sadness at the result
can bring us back to humility.
We can decompose our hubris
into living humus.

©Susa Silvermarie 2026