Why won’t nature’s embrace be real?
‘Cause I can’t feel its arms or hear it speak?
‘Cause I can’t see it smile when I take a peek?
Oh! That just makes it clear!

I can think of nature as a mother,
And in fact it’s what’s borne me and feeds me,
And it’s what every part of me is made of,
And when I’m hurt, it’s what heals me,
Although it took a while before it was clear.

Its lap is a lush green retreat, where I can lose
myself and nothing will invade my peace,
Its arms are branches and trees, and if I were to lie down, they’ll envelop me beneath,
And I know that things are really not what the eyes see,
This world lives in its foolish version of reality,
When neither Earth is at rest, not sun or our galaxy,
And we’re long past the principle of locality,
Thus, living in an era this advanced, I must take
notice of the atmosphere and mysterious vacuum that cover me,
And close my eyes to bypass the sense of sight,
Which, although crucial, is often but a distraction,
And submit myself to the experience of eternity.

The fundamental unit that makes all the particles,
Have been here for billions of years, and is what
Makes everything, a rock, our bodies, or giant stars,
The light we see from the stars has been travelling for years,
And the gold in our mines is insanely old, a remnant
Of collisions between stars and explosions,
All of this, mere a glimpse, of the bigger picture
Of the universe we live in.

Living down to the miraculous ground doesn’t sound
As bad now, and dying turns out to be a remarkable physical action,
To meet the earth that gloriously fostered life for eras,
And become a true part of it again,
The Zero, that is infinite.

– ni

Theme:
Existence, cosmic unity, and the infinite in the ordinary — seeing “zero” (shunya) as boundless and eternal rather than void.

Genre:
Reflective/philosophical free verse (contemplative poetry).

Topic:
Nature as origin and home, the universe beyond sensory perception, and the self dissolving into the infinite “zero.”