Survival is more than propagation; 

We take what we can
from our parents, learn what we can
from our environment, leave
what we can, with what we can,
searching the elements

before they can
take what they can
from us. 

Survival is more than propagation

of what’s gone before—in us, around us,
from us; you can’t whip-&-tongue your way
from one bad habitat to another
desperately trying, forcing, grafting
unless you simply wish to reproduce
the same negative traits
again & again. 

A pot is merely a pot; it is not
your home.  It is not
where you have
to live.

Revival is more than propagation; 

sometimes you have to plant yourself
with a cutting.  The stakes are high
when the seasons are short, &
the timing is choice. 

It’s kind of a miracle
that anything can grow
given the variables

but it does,
& we do, 

& as survival is insufficient,
I’m manifesting myself
to thrive.

***italicized text a quote by Seven of Nine from the Star Trek mythos***