The World is Not a Promise
I measure out darkness
like a potion I know will kill me
when my body is a riddle tied in knots
a host for virus and plastic
because the world is not a promise
the moon is not a puppet
and the sun doesn’t owe us light
What wakes me at night
is the thought of everyone
and everyone’s trash
a gold rush for fool’s gold
and a self-assured notion
that Wall Street is Eden
that we can blame a devil snake
while we crash nature’s bank
and burn our climate at both ends
Evolution isn’t always improvement
What we break, we own
What we reap, we have sown
The world is not under our dominion
It’s our fragile natal saving grace
_______________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
November 18th, 2022 1:18 am
body is a riddle tied in knots- that resonates a lot this week with my own health drama. Love the title though of course we are burning climate and grace at both ends and making a fair mess of everything.
November 18th, 2022 2:07 am
Very well said, and all too poignant!
November 18th, 2022 6:03 am
So true … this false sense of entitlement. Earth owes us nothing but we owe it a lot.
November 18th, 2022 11:46 am
The same things that wake you at night wake me also. How fragile is this life! Paradoxically, its weakness is also its strength. May we find ways to nurture that strength.
November 18th, 2022 12:25 pm
Truer poetry was never ‘spoken.’ And just this morning I hear that North Korea is firing off test missiles capable of reaching the North American continent. Terrifying to contemplate.
November 18th, 2022 8:12 pm
“ that we can blame a devil snake” So awfully true.
November 19th, 2022 10:11 am
Add my name to the sleepless list. Society needs a big wake up call before its too late.
November 21st, 2022 10:25 am
“What we break, we own
What we reap, we sow”
I think a lot of people still don’t understand or subscribe to the above words. They happily use plastic as if the waste can disappear into air, they use a car to drive that short distance when they can walk. They do not understand how fragile the Earth can be.
November 24th, 2022 12:42 pm
There’s so much truth in this poem.
August 22nd, 2023 11:05 am
That is a very thought provoking poem. I like all the comments too!