As a child, I never thought
of water as something I needed
of education as something needed
… nor wanted,
or for that matter,
freedom (for whatever it means)
as something needed

For they were given freely
assumed and ever present…

As was love,  not thought of as needed.
It was just there, as too were
appropriate behaviour adjustments,
to teach respect for all others,
a form of love I didn’t know I needed.

These things given
without condition.
Come with no guarantee,
must not be returned unopened,
for they must be used,
if not understood at the time, until
they become a part of who we are.

Something to be added to
and passed down, and is this then,
not the essence of civilization?
Without which, only chaos
and the wildling of life
would live in its place.