I remember Ravens and Dogs talking outside my childhood window,
the early messengers of my second tribe,
the one that has always been alongside the first.
I never had to think about it,
I always knew they were kin.
Maybe they weren’t talking to me,
but I felt part of the conversation.
Some days they squawked at me for getting too close to a nest,
tiny creature members scuttled away from my clumsy feet,
a few offered me friendship from time to time,
I always said yes.
All animal beings have their own ways.
Horses are so proud and cocky in their majesty,
yet deeply humble when they love.
Each winged being that circles the Earth is a unique citizen
in a flowing axial wave that wraps us all in grace, curiosity, and mirth,
with hilarious Corvid commentators, always watching, laughing, and chiding.
I’ve spent time with Seals, the good people of the Sea.
I believe they carry the most ancient stories of our Oceans,
its many battles and births in their longing eyes.
At times they seem like a brash people, hard and raucous,
but they are sensuous lovers too,
only surpassed by Otters.
It doesn’t matter how deeply I wander into the human world
they always welcome me back as if no time has passed
and we can travel together again.
I bump into humans there from time to time,
then they become kin too.
