A Common Heritage

In Denver

Visiting my brother

I stood by birch trees

Growing in a stand

On the mountainside

And mentally connected the dots

To see how their root system was

Not one alone but all interconnected

Under the earth

So oftentimes

I find myself remembering

How all life springs

From a communal source

Acknowledging a heritage shared

Across such remarkable groupings

With cousins and aunts

We give expression to genetic tendencies

For curly hair and learning disabilities

And various other things

Both for better and worse