From two small cells
my body grew,
nurtured in Mother's belly
like a pumpkin on her vine.
When it was ripe
she pushed it out here
and the doctor cut the cord,
and the first harvest was complete.
This body, made of nutrients
from food grown in the ground,
first imbibed through Mother
and now through my own mouth,
is but a loan from Earth and God,
a habitat of incarnation
for mind and energy
to learn to serve
the Love that nurtures everything,
become that Love,
and then return the loan
and never more
return here as a form —
the second harvest and
the one that's real.
Max Reif
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/meditation-on-ontogeny-and-teleology/
