Besotted

The crafting of this sentence
Recognition of the meaning
Of these words —

Are these activities — these capacities —
More ingenious, more creative
More advanced

Than a newborn calf
Struggling to stand
Than a bee finding a flower
Than a fingernail growing by itself

Setting aside the accounting
Of the cost, daily and historical
Of human ingenuity, creativity
Advancement —

Is any of a creature’s capacity
Self-granted, self-owned

Is any unique human capacity
Not a consequence
Of being given the ability to
Make representations
Of images
Sounds

And thereafter
Is the entire human project
Not a consequence
Of being besotted —
Unlike any other creature
With those representations