“Origin Story”
by Shelly Moore ©️ 2023

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Picture a single flake of snow-
Which has fallen to the earth.
Eight billion icy fractals
Making up its girth.

Each connected to a core-
Branching out and away.
Each separate from the next-
But in truth they’re all the same.

Envision the fractals as gradient-
A spectrum indefinite.
Each represents a human soul-
Whose potential is stored within.

If the snowflake doesn’t work for you,
Think of us as many rays of sun.
Hitting the earth at different points,
But all stemming from the One.

An incomprehensible amount of time ago,
The sun wanted to feel.
It thought, “I need to experience,
I need to hurt and heal.”

It fractured into who we are-
What we’ve deemed the soul.
So that it could learn and grow-
So that it could know.

Rocks and streams and human beings,
Frogs and snakes and toads,
Deer and moose and tiny things,
Rain and ice and snow.

The earth, the sky, each round planet,
This universe and the next.
We cannot fully comprehend-
Our vastness is complex.

The good, the bad, the in between,
The boring and mundane,
The thrilling, chilling, evil things,
The pure of heart and vain.

Over time we’ve made mistakes-
Errors of our own greed.
We’ve seen through greedy, lustful eyes,
We’ve destroyed precious things.

In our insatiable pursuit of power
We created false hierarchies.
We say he’s more powerful than the next-
Creating flawed realities.

They inevitably tumble, crumble, and fall-
At times more violent than not.
Death and destruction then prevail-
We mourn and grieve our loss.

If we realized we’re all cut from
The very same tattered cloth,
We’d place ourselves above none
Protecting each other at any cost.

For some it’s hard to fathom
Such a shift in paradigm.
They hold their beliefs too tightly-
Worshipping dollar sign and dime.

Their worth comes not from within,
But from the material realm without.
The number in a bank account,
Their family’s name in clout.

Do not view this as a fault-
Know we are a gradient spectrum.
Our range is boundless and immense-
Evolving rays of sun.

If you wanted to experience everything
You’d need to be it all.
You can’t create a billion things
All harmless, meek, and small.

You’d need to stretch far beyond-
Transcend any limits.
“All” implies no boundaries-
A gradient spectrum infinite.

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