An Untitled Poem
by Tom Atlee

Life unfolds
through ideas and stories
before and after
it unfolds in reality.

The quality of that unfolding
is called
intelligence.

Among people
that unfolding
is called
conversation,
which is the surface of a great sea
of collective intelligence,
the skin we can see and hear.

The conversation
is unfolding
is birth
is born from
gives birth to
relationships --
among people
ideas
stories
perspectives
conversations
on their endless journey
who are the endless journey
unfolding through that sea.

Tom Atlee is the author of The Tao of Democracy, and the founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute.