Gentle, be gentle

For everything moves when you do

As you forge a path among the slim reeds

Some bend and sway while others snap at the neck

For everything moves when you do

 

Gentle, be gentle

You are billions of atoms displacing hundreds of billions of them

Everything you touch or don’t is moved by your existence

The life you lead is happening to so many others too

For everything moves when you do

 

Gentle, be gentle

Everything you’ve ever said and done and thought

Everything you will ever say and do and think

Is an arrow shot in the dark bursting into a million more

For everything moves when you do

 

Gentle, be gentle

The hubris of brash youth, it may not seem a vice 

Putting yourself first, every day and every night

You leave prints, cast your shadow, a you-shaped bruise

For everything moves when you do

 

So gentle, be gentle