Safe Words for Soft Beings

for membraned beings with electro-
organelles, pulsations
to communicate acceptance
the word         Ocean

for beings with crusted mouths
wide eyes dark pools of stars
reflecting generations
the word         Ache

for microscopic organisms, data
drunk with heavy minds, adhering
to each other to create giants
the word         Aspen

for clefted ears and strained voices
raw from constant war vocalizations
and no need for sleep
the word         Pacify

for gods without imperfection
bodies without age, life
without end, without purpose
the word         Patience

for sandstone creatures encasing
metamorphic minds volcanic
insides, immobile outsides
the word         Spirit

for fire breathers, singed
feathers and sharp claws
who attack without cause
the word         Resist

for hydrogen filled
orb-shaped glowing spheres
without central processing or language
the word         Existence

for one-winged, one-eyed
single-hearted beasts,
planet bound, skyward dreaming
the word         Balance

for wormhole born, time
wearied, universally empathic
sky-nymphs
the word         Daydream

for soft-bellied, terra torn
loved and lost diasporic beings
cradled in the unfolding expansion
of space, the word
Home


—Lesley Hart Gunn