When I was a red-winged blackbird I knew every post and stump, I could tell exactly when it was time to fly. When I was a waterlily I gave all my best leaves to the pond, and my best blossoms too. When I was a cattail I knew my friends and my numerous enemies by their scent and their shape and the size of their stems. When I was the multiflora rose I found many cozy spots, I was thorny but hip, I was nicer to the bluebirds than to the crows. When I was the duckweed I stuck to any bird I could, half the time I didn’t even bother with the flowers, just split whenever I got the chance. When I was the pond I rested for weeks on end, let the wind and the sun do all the work, said whatever all the time. When I was the sun I had many urgent and utopian ideas, I changed millions of tons of this into that, I didn’t care who watched or burned themselves blind trying. When I was the path everybody thought they used me, but they all went exactly where I wanted them to go. When I was Jeff I walked some paths, sat beside ponds, listened to songs I couldn’t name. During the eclipse I looked straight at the sun for an instant and afterwards I could still see, though never as clear nor as far as I dreamed. When I was a deerfly I zoomed around everybody’s head, as if I could persuade them my troubles were their own.