One way to begin understanding complex systems is by describing them in detail: mapping out their parts, their multiple interactions, and how they change through time. Complex systems are often complicated—that is, they have many moving parts that can be hard to identify and define. But the overriding feature of complex systems is that they cannot be managed from the top down. Complex systems display emergent properties and unpredictable adaptations that we cannot identify in advance. But far from being inaccessible, we can learn a lot about such systems by describing what we observe. [1]

The stoop outside my backdoor is part of a complex system.  I find that poetry is a worthwhile descriptive system.

 

Stone steps, 

jackrock stones, 

limestone from a nearby fallen foundation cemented 

into a back ‘stoop’, 

and a weed,

an Inconvenient plant 

that we can’t use. 

        

Our old weedwhacker finally gave it up after long and loyal use.  I did my homework and much to my consuming surprise I discovered that electric string trimmers have entered the world of real work.  So I got one. It was lighter and quieter and better balanced than our old Echo model, a hive of bees but less angry.

Big win.

My wife went nuts trimming around the back stoop, 

but she left this flower intact.  

At some point she redefined what this plant was.  

Not a weed.  

In moments like these 

I can scarce believe 

the depth 

of feeling 

rising.

Up.  

I would have saved the weed, too, 

just like we save errant box turtles in the road 

and luna moths confused on the ground 

and birds that crash our glass but survive if given a safe perch.

 

My lesson: observe, note, exalt OR seek, make sense, share