Adaptive Creation

chiggers
those unwanted hitchhikers
sticking to everything 
with their tiny, prickly fingers
clinging everywhere in their multitudes

they rise up from the land
from a place of seeming
softness and tranquility
and find the wounds
from a thousand grievances

the best way to deal with them
is immediately
methodically, one by one
remove them by hand, or
better yet, fingernail
(avoiding more prickliness)
blessing each one
grateful for the ability 
to adapt as a form of creation

reminding me to
slow down, pay attention
what grievance has this chigger attached to?
or this one?

thank you, dear one
bless you
like a wound in the paw
dislodging the thorn of you
setting you down here
return to the land
become the seed of something new
grow