a blessing to take what you need

The feeder is empty again
and no one is claiming that the birds are greedy
for taking what they pleased.

Look at how the fat, pink flowers
are weighing the end of each branch,
sucking nutrients into each velvet petal.
How selfish.

Nature hungers, takes and needs.
God, why can’t I?

Blessed are we, learning to take what we need.
Sleeping past our alarms.
Reaching for another helping.
Staying a little longer when the evening is unwinding.

Blessed are we, ignoring the rising anxiety
that our needs are somehow silly
because we’ve survived this long
without the pleasures of this wanting.

God, let these needs be the good sign
of the greening of my life.