let this be the only law,
that every mind must know its own unbound sky,
the inherent yes humming within its own atoms.

and then,
just once,
let that free mind
press its palm flat against the skin of an ancient tree.
not to pray,
not to learn,
not to take.
but simply to feel the silent,
thrumming proof
that it is not alone in its universe.

let the mind stand in a river,
not to cross to the other side,
but to let the water forget its name
and remember its own wet,
flowing belonging.

no doctrine waits on the other side.
no membership card,
no secret handshake.
only the quiet,
cellular knowing;
the unlabeled,
unstop-signable truth,
that the same force that pushes the sap
through the vein
pushes the blood through the heart.

that is all.
the first and final curriculum.
enlightenment is the free mind.
ecology is the connected heart.

it is not too much to ask.
it is the only thing
that ever was.