There Ought to Be Someone

There Ought to Be Someone

There ought to be someone 
Who knows.
Preferably near 
But they could also be far.
Tall or short, doesn’t matter,
And doesn’t matter what age
So long as they’re young in spirit.
They ought to know things people
Used to know.
Forgotten ways
To build a house and keep a garden,
Poets no one reads,
Recipes
They’d cook for you
If you could find where they live.
They ought to care about language,
Where words come from
And what they mean.
They ought to own 
A thesaurus and a dictionary.
They ought to be able to tell you
What the weather will be like
Without consulting anything
But the direction of the wind
And the behavior of birds.
They ought to feed birds
And cats alike.
They ought to respect life,
To let spiders weave
Their dreamcatchers in the corners,
Mice patter in their walls.
They ought to be able to sing
In taverns without fear.
They ought not go to taverns.
They ought to take their shoes
Off at the door, and choose
Whether to vote or pay taxes.
They ought to be the first to go
To sleep and the first wake.
They ought to know 
Where they want to be 
Buried when they die.
There ought to be someone
Like this still around.
They ought to be found.