Nothing New, on Black Friday

on Black Friday

Every drop of water that you drink today,
and bathe and wash and cook with,
and use to clean and flush and scrub;
the water in your cells and tissues, organs,
the water falling on your head in lovely rain,
the water flowing underneath the ground;
the water lifting up, invisible in the cycle
when its liquid turns to vapor and puddles disappear
and your clothes dry on a line –
all the water in the oceans and on our island continents
is water used before. And up to now without a resale tag.

In the bodies of each breathing creature on this finite earth,
the molecules of air are one. Despite your prejudice or introversion,
air once in others’ lungs flows now right into yours.
Constantly mixed, the air, so the atoms you are breathing now
have been exhaled by dinosaurs and prophets,
as well as by your current adversaries, those who make you rage.
With air, there is no contest. All is shared, is used,
all is reused constantly So though you call it fresh,
every breath that you in-spire today
has been used by countless beings before.
Recycling, it’s the holy magic way of earth!

©Susa Silvermarie 2025