Taking What I Can

I think I need to tell 

you, I have come here 

to take what I can.

I have come to push 

unwanted seeds into 

the dirt and make it 

grow things it does not 

choose. I'll plant what 

I want and make her 

feed it and I will call 

it my own. I will not 

thank her, nor will I 

give her of the spoils.

I think I need to tell you, 

when I see a flower, 

I will not leave it on the 

stem and smell it there 

and watch it there in her 

place of birth. No, I shall 

have to cut it down or 

pull it out and bring to the 

place where I live. I can't 

stop there, I will go back 

and back and back again and 

take more and more and 

more, until I cannot carry 

them - those many mores.

And I will have to always 

look for more and more 

and more to make me feel 

so happy. So very, very 

happy.

21 June 1996