Earthling

You, earthling, how can you even
begin to attempt to fathom
what it means to live,
when you don’t bother
to attempt to fathom
what it means to love?

I’ve learned over the eons that
it may be air that keeps
my lungs full and my body alive,
air doesn’t fill my heart the way
love does, and air doesn’t breathe
life into my soul, the way
loving someone does.