Maida Cummings, Thirsty Cow, Photograph
How to Find Purchase in a Chaotic World
Notice the flash of mallard green where two
mated ducks nuzzle in a palm-shaded pool.
Notice the sky, pale with clouds, gifting cover
from the desert sun. Notice the fan palms,
long fronds like hula skirts shifting slightly
in an unexpected breeze. Crouch down
to admire a white-collared lizard
lazing on a rock, its long spotted tail
brushing against the rock’s rough surface.
Survey the flat stones that cross the creek,
high after last night’s rain. Now, rock by rock,
pick your way across, arms akimbo to find balance.
With nothing to hold onto, let the soft earth reach up.
and catch you on the other side.
_____________
Suzy Harris
Review by Massimo Fantuzzi
Purchase, path. The logical flaw you’ll always find in the dominant belief systems is their double bind: they imply that the individual is inherently inadequate and in need of the moral scaffolding only that religion can provide, while simultaneously convincing followers that they possess a special bond with the Creator – and thus a privileged seat in Creation. This poem frees us from that burden. It strips our essence and senses back to the unfiltered/uncensored self to find us already complete and morally sound. With nothing to cling onto, we rediscover our own function, our balance, our own place. Notice. No blinders, it’s like seeing for the first time. Crouch down. Movement is without crutches, without alibis, without prefabricated routines. Nothing else is required.
Rock by rock, pick your way across, perfect verse, should be printed on t-shirts. While the Algorithm seems to entrench some of us in increasingly binary thinking, it is never too late to believe in freedom, to break away from herd mentalities, to take personal responsibility, to find (not miraculous, not heavenly distant, not mysteriously and selectively god-given) but plain, innate human strength. Earthlings, by birthright; contrary to what some interests would have us believe, there is no need to dominate or antagonize the natural elements – the soft earth to reach up and catch you on the other side.