being property once myself

being property once myself
i have a feeling for it,
that’s why i can talk
about environment.
what wants to be a tree,
ought to be he can be it.
same thing for other things.
same thing for men.



Lucille Clifton, “being property once myself” from How to Carry Water: Selected Poems. Copyright © 1972, 1987 1991 by Lucille Clifton. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of BOA Editions Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.