Dependence Day

Though the Fourth of July deserves the parades,

Speeches, and fireworks that commemorate

The declaration of our independence

From the country we left behind us,

What about adding a holiday in early spring

With a focus more global that honors dependence

In all its varieties, beginning with the dependence

Of the animal kingdom on the kingdom of plants,

And the dependence of both on the minerals

They’re composed of, the elements left behind

After a star, having exhausted its fuel,

Fell in on itself and exploded. Here we are,

On a planet composed of stellar debris,

Alive together in a spacious cosmos—

That’s the theme of our holiday as we pause

To acknowledge our debt to our providers.

Dear brotherly spear of grass, pushing up

From a bed of star ash, we salute you

For making the oxygen we depend on.

Dear sister cow, browsing the grass in a field

South of San Antonio on this fine April morning,

It’s your milk, we’re glad to proclaim,

That’s provided the slices of cheese for the sandwiches

In the lunch boxes of the farmer’s children,

Rosemary and Travis, as they ride the bus

To the high school on Dependence Day.

Today every class, no matter the subject,

Will try to widen the usual frame of reference,

Including the health class taught by the school nurse,

Mrs. Deronda. Students, on other days

When we’ve talked about microbes, we’ve viewed them

Primarily as invaders. But today we want to acknowledge

That clusters of them—far more numerous than the stars

Visible on a clear night beyond the town glare—

Are busy within us, protecting and nourishing.

On other days, when discussing addiction, we’ve focused

On the damage that drugs can do to our bodies.

But today we’ll be dealing with the damage

They’re doing in cities south of the border

To people who won’t cooperate with the drug lords,

Who have to leave home to save themselves.

Today we’ll be looking at photographs of families

Camped on the Rio Grande, longing to cross

Into our country and begin again.

It’s obvious how they depend on us.

But today let’s focus on our dependence on them,

How only through them can we be the people

We want to become, the fabled welcomers

Of the huddled and homeless, ever loyal

To the hopeful republic that once proved willing,

Though we brought few assets

We could identify, to let us in.