Attending to the World
Push me, pull me.
How all life moves.
Focus and unfocus.
Pay mind and let go.
Is that not enough?
Our struggle fits.
We work together,
like sunflowers and goldfinches,
givers and takers,
alternatively.
we perch together,
the snick of connexion,
always together.
So much of this
is routine,
is what we have allowed ourselves
not to attend to
nor consider any more:
the scritch of nib on paper,
the brittle clear of winter morning stars,
the steaming whisps of compost heating..
Do we look on or not?
Not.
So often not.
We train ourselves to turn away from that
which is adjacent,
not toward it.
So it goes that
we piss away our lives,
our joys and, linked with that,
our pains.
Walking into that storm
knowing how cold that rain is
doesn’t prove anything,
it just acknowledges it.
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Graceful words here. I loved feeling the back and forth movement in this poem. Such a great slice of life story in poem form. SOLSC is all about attending to life and this poem shows the vividness of that so well.
Watch for an email from me. 🙂 I have a request.
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I left twice again as much of this poem on the cutting room floor. And it’s all about this and that and the rhythm that implies. Thanks so much for your attention.
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Wow, this is so powerful. Some of the words and phrases are amazing. I am here reading aloud to enjoy the rhythm and sound of the words. Some favorites-
“the snick of connexion,”
“the scritch of nib on paper,
the brittle clear of winter morning stars,
the steaming whisps of compost heating.”
Thanks for sharing. I’m inspired to go out and enjoy the beauty that is right beside me.
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Thanks, so much, Denise. You demonstrate that writing a good comment like this one is an art, but most of that skills comes under what I suspect Walt Whitman would have written: “Observe. Sing.” The last sentence binds us like the goldfinch to the sunflower, all a-chitter. Thanks again.
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This is a beautiful poem slice about life and all its complexities. I feel the push and the pull, the world in motion in your poem. Your title is just right and the ending leaves me pondering.
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This is so beautiful – in message and craft. I found myself having to slow down – the urgency of the words moving me forward but the power of the message wanting me to slow down. Your use of language and space really captures what it feels like to attend to the world. Thank you.