truth is freedom

As a child
fascinated by time
and size
and the relativity of both
I wondered at the lifespan of an ant
traveling across the sidewalk.
Do my seconds take years to that
much smaller creature?
Does it even see me as I am?
Or am I merely a nondescript
piece of landscape
too large to focus on
too slow in movement to notice?
Am I a god to this creature?
If so, what's larger than us
that we fail to see
due only to perception
of size
and time
and the movement of the universe around us?
Is God merely
a child too large to see
staring at us in curiosity
when not ignoring us completely?
Isn't it merely luck
that an ant comes across a child
with an inquisitive eye
and a kind heart
instead of a magnifying glass
and a malicious bent?
Whatever prayers toward gods the ant may have
are unheard and unanswered
its fate determined simply by chance and whim.

These ideas enveloped me
after my mother's explanation
as to why family pets
aged faster, died sooner.

As other children rode by on bikes
ignoring the world of the minuscule
I set about carefully collecting and placing
leaves and crumbs of food
near the anthills in the yard.
I figured
every creature
could use a little help from its gods
and just in case
I wanted to be a benevolent one.