It was just that simple, we all thought
one day amidst graffitied f**k-you's and political slurs razor wired compounds,
diesel and concrete, blaring and glaring and wearing thinness of it all. But
then we followed a sparrow home to its resting place, a wisp of cotton
insulated crack in the wall of some guarded installation or other and one of
us, I cannot recall whom, decided that day, we would dig a garden bed, right
there in the middle of the glorious mess we had made of things. And it required
a pick-axe, a jackhammer at first until we got the hang of working this soil and
someone thought to use a till to turn the earth gently, letting it breathe, and
we tested it, found it lacking in basic nutrients; so we gave it organics- our
piss, some horse s**t, leftover scraps we had to spare from talks over dinner
tables.
Then one showed us how to fertilize it with his own blood, and so we honored
him by finally screwing down our courage and putting that first fragile seed in
soil, and we utterly rejoiced out loud, in effervescence, when those little
leaves bravely pushed forth through the collected junk and brightened the
smog-filled corner even a tiny bit.
And it was HARD work to keep it going, remembering
it when we had our fights with our mates and dinner to put on the table and
unreasonably driven deadlines from sameful faces behind lines in cubes inside
walls like boxes, homes without trees or sunlight and we needed each other to
recall what day, what season for without sun we forget. And when children came,
we taught them how to grow tomatoes and beans on barbed wire and at first we
only planted useful things, like that but then one girl asked, please, for some
flowers- and and first we said there is not enough space, but then someone
pointed out herbs produce flowers, and so we branched out into beauty and
spiciness- and with it came the first of many swallowtails, little bodies
suspended like tiny kites on invisible strings; and now today, we have turned
over this patch of dirt, and we have moved on, saying, today is the day of a
larger dream, and we will go forward, releasing butterflies on other
battlefields.
there are many different ways to be a guerilla... I actually found this video after writing the poem, and it worked so well I included it here. I hope you take the 10 minutes to listen to what this guy has to say, because this is what real power is about.
My Review
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BRILLAINT .. and BEAUTIFUL .. and please, don't change a word, not a word! Everyone should read this, there's adventure and optimism, work, want, life and lingering beauty in it. At the end, i was near to tears, laughing, near cheering.
BRILLIANT!
(plus the way it's blocked, the phrasing, the lack of excess makes for more than fine writing.
thanks, Emma, I think you were one fo the few to pick up that this was not really about "just" plant.. read morethanks, Emma, I think you were one fo the few to pick up that this was not really about "just" planting a garden. It is not the wording I want to change, but the justification. This piece wants to be written as a wall, and I was even trying to get it written on perspective, which I could do in Word (though I could not get justification to work in any format), but could not translate here. Might try later today when I get some down time here in the States.
ken, have you ever seen the books that talk about what would happen to our cities after we are gone?.. read moreken, have you ever seen the books that talk about what would happen to our cities after we are gone? Interesting reads, they are. I have long thought we have far too much reliance on an either/ or mentality. We need green spaces in our homes as much as in our lives, I think.
Thank you, Petrichor.. I find that deep wells are best when you want to write, even for surface thin.. read moreThank you, Petrichor.. I find that deep wells are best when you want to write, even for surface things
If you are tired, please stay tired when you write. This is excellent, a prose poem that exudes honesty and observation in every line - like this very much.
thank you Leslie... and yes, when I wrote this, I had been awake for about 36 hours straight... hope.. read morethank you Leslie... and yes, when I wrote this, I had been awake for about 36 hours straight... hopefully that does not always have to happen. Glad you enjoyed this.
hmmm great line of releasing butterflies on our battlefields...some may be too removed in lifes happenstance or by choice of occupation..from the soil, the old worn-out dirt mixed with wind blown sand....hard to plant in sand..it is not permanent..but wtih a lot of work its becomes..soil....loved this piece..
I read soemthign recently that talked about how the US culture is so far removed from natural cycles.. read moreI read soemthign recently that talked about how the US culture is so far removed from natural cycles that we get it all wrong even as young children... and do not stop anthropomorphizing the natural world throughout life as a result. We forget the sticks and stones and blood and bones structure of things that connects us to those larger cycles. The effect is more pronounced in our culture than anywhere else in the world. Fascinating stuff.
I love the flow of action, ideas, deeds, words, nature and time. As I read it .... out loud... I always do... I became breathless... not due to the length of sentences... the absence of punctuation... nor for any other literary reason... it was the excitement and exuberance of the piece. Thank you.
You're welcome, Richard. I believe ideas are like freight trains in the way they can gather momentum.. read moreYou're welcome, Richard. I believe ideas are like freight trains in the way they can gather momentum and work on the force of their own mass.
11 Years Ago
KE=1/2MV^2
11 Years Ago
I wonder sometimes if that is enough energy to describe an idea whose time has come???
11 Years Ago
Quantum/atomic.... MC^2
11 Years Ago
was thinking that, yes
11 Years Ago
See biologists, botanists, environmentalists, psychotherapists, psychologists physicists and mathema.. read moreSee biologists, botanists, environmentalists, psychotherapists, psychologists physicists and mathematicians can all talk dirty formlas to each other epecally at poets corner.
great job .. in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT .. the young German soldier fondly remembers his butterflies back home and there is one exquisite moment when he is peering out of his trench at some butterflies sporting in the air .. luckily he gets home to see his butterflies again.
We are all of us like that german soldier stuck in our collective trench. is it too late for us? genetic crops, soil exhaustion, weather extremes .. ach, there are precious few sparrows to be found in British cities now.
I like the ferocity with which you evoke the dream of a few instinctively natural souls to fight for a more natural way. But all the while millions flock to cities every day. China throws up more coal fired power-stations.
That said, the fight for a more natural way has to be won.
thanks, Orlando, and you really get it. Hats off to you. It is not just the planting that counts, bu.. read morethanks, Orlando, and you really get it. Hats off to you. It is not just the planting that counts, but carrying the ability to see the better world, with you when you go into dark places. We all must enter dark places. We should teach our children, instead of avoiding the dark places, to remember how to draw strength from what is important when we enter, so that we can leave them again instead of spending years wandering cold dark mazes.
11 Years Ago
and you added those personal touches, in the compost description, etc....it was very post-apocalypti.. read moreand you added those personal touches, in the compost description, etc....it was very post-apocalyptically colloquial
This has terrific potential. I think it could gain great power if it were formatted thoughtfully, which I suspect you were about to do. I would love to see it when it has been finalized!
Thank you Emma, thank you Marie, To pry open the apathetic world, don't bother me world, wrapped in french cup blinkers,who has the whip?, who has the spurs?,what has the vet given me running through my veins ? I can't see, I can't feel world of success, throw away excess, bomb infected puree of hypocrisy ,Now Marie you have written ,and Emma has requested,Now at midnight how do you get this to appear in every church bulletin,on all bathroom stall walls,and Rice bag in the world ? Places to read and believe.
My freind lynne did a yearlong project where she printed and dropped free booklets of poetry in all .. read moreMy freind lynne did a yearlong project where she printed and dropped free booklets of poetry in all sorts of random places. We do need more of that, I think. Something to jar awake the dopamine addicted brains of the cynics.
BRILLAINT .. and BEAUTIFUL .. and please, don't change a word, not a word! Everyone should read this, there's adventure and optimism, work, want, life and lingering beauty in it. At the end, i was near to tears, laughing, near cheering.
BRILLIANT!
(plus the way it's blocked, the phrasing, the lack of excess makes for more than fine writing.
thanks, Emma, I think you were one fo the few to pick up that this was not really about "just" plant.. read morethanks, Emma, I think you were one fo the few to pick up that this was not really about "just" planting a garden. It is not the wording I want to change, but the justification. This piece wants to be written as a wall, and I was even trying to get it written on perspective, which I could do in Word (though I could not get justification to work in any format), but could not translate here. Might try later today when I get some down time here in the States.
Bilingual (English and Spanish) poet, essayist, novelist, grant writer, editor, and technical writer working in Central America.
"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to ta.. more..