In the End
every morning
I pour the kefir and
swallow eight teeming world populations
of life: 50 billion
microscopic bacterial organisms
in a double gulp
all in the name of probiotic health.
I line up the containers
on the refrigerator shelf
and ponder these
overpopulated colonies
like so many bacterial pilgrims
boarding a Mayflower
praying for a journey of survival
through treacherous depths
and wonder
what they hope for
in the end.
Common Threads 