i sometimes think in the bathroom
today i was thinking about things
what makes them what they are and
how can different things be called
by the same name? so I took out the
toothpaste tube and squeezed it on
the brush, white and spotted gel;
but it might have been green, might
have lacked fluoride or xylitol
yet it's still toothpaste, right?
so i thought maybe the thing is
its function, what it does for me
and why i use it; the toothpaste
cleanses my teeth and keeps them
healthy, the cup holds tapwater or
any other liquid, limits the leaks,
the sink to directly deliver H2O;
but if things are their functions
then what of unintentional things
objects not conceived with purpose
or not conceived at all, but random
like the grey swirls in the marble
counter, or the boulder i sit on
as i go for a walk before i come
back indoors to brush my teeth?
i cannot define them in terms of
what they do, since they were not
meant to do anything at all; and
maybe that's where i've erred, by
equating human things with non-
because they both proceed me, thus
assuming that both made with a
purpose; yet one dies with man,
with surcease of intent, and the
other transcends all function.
i spit out the foam, and rinse...