this planet, this single illimitable organism
he is damariscotta, the place of many fish,
the estuary where fresh and saltwater meet
and life begins. he is the protester
on the bridge above the river
on a frigid midwinter morning, toes and fingers numb,
standing up for democracy with others.
he is the local bridge troll, stepping into each protester’s
space and face to agitate and provoke. he is the energy
beneath the bridge, the place where 30 billion gallons
of water move through the river during each cycle of tide.
he is agitation, the colliding tidal forces
that provoke froth and foam, current
and confrontation. he is the bald eagle,
the huge, dark shape known to the abenaki
as the carrier of prayers, perched in stillness on the branch
of a grand shore-hugging pine. he is the volitant corvid,
cawing for compatriots to pack a coal-black attack
on this white-capped living symbol of freedom.
he is the abenaki citizen, whose life is communal,
consensually decided, who lives in kinship with animals,
in stewardship of the land, in support of his neighbor.
he belongs exactly here, exactly now.
—dotty seiter
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9 x 12″; ink and watercolor pencil on paper
Let’s Face It With Friends series
2026
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Notes About Poem and Art
• “this planet” grew from a confluence of deep connections felt recently on a particular morning in Lincoln County, Maine, as I came face to face with the interaction of a host of natural systems in play on this earth we inhabit.
• The Friends Who Talk provides yet another bit of local color that’s part of the huge infinitely-complex organism that is life on this planet.
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The town meeting at which I noticed a group of talkative friends:
dottyseiter: now playing 
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