Othering
I see you and you see me
Thrown into uncertainty
Are you my supper or am I yours?
Should I run or should I pause?
I listened to my mother
"On encountering the other
Fight, Flight or Freeze
On your toes or on your knees."
You are black, I am white.
I am left, you are right.
You are gay, I am straight.
I am love, you are hate.
You have two legs, I have four.
I have roots, you're a spore.
Thrown into uncertainty
Not knowing that we inter-be.
Not knowing the truth, that I am We
That Me is also the bee and the flea
The sea and the tree and the free.
I am one colour of the rainbow and I am the rainbow.
I am one ripple on the surface of the lake and I am the lake.
We are both other and we are both the same.

Stephen Gospage
Wed 19th Aug 2026 10:10
I enjoyed this, Hazel. The notion of 'inter-be' is fascinating, and uplifting.