Meaning of Life

I think therefore I am

the pedestal of our conscious minds

our secure tenet

that which we may share

with cows, sheep, frogs, crickets, trees...

Wait...does a cow ask for the meaning of life?

Or merely run from death?

Just like that spider scuttling from your boot

Or the crickets you killed farming your lettuce.

Do we need a capacity to suffer?

Male chicks left to starve at birth

Exhausted bumblebees failing to fly home

Or trees in a drought, dropping leaves and dying arms.

Pain is not the same as suffering

That itch you just cannot scratch

Drinking just enough to survive each day

An elephant, alone in a cage

There are no lesser

And no greater

We all live to reduce

our suffering.