The Ukraine
photo by Dmitri Muravsky
"Nothing wants to suffer."
- Linda Hogan
Nothing wants to suffer, not the pussywillow
snipped off its bush and carried away to be put
in a vase; not the slug, squished underfoot,
its slime trail flattened on the pavement;
not the octopus, trapped
in a tidepool too small, writhing,
pulling its arms in convulsively, waiting
to be rescued by the incoming tide, its eyes
peering out at us peering in: afraid, afraid,
of being poked, interfered with, not knowing
what we tall monstrous creatures might do,
no way to escape, no where to hide,
displaced from its dark safe depths,
a sudden refugee.
Nothing wants to suffer, not the mother,
hurt by an angry daughter's behaviour,
nor the daughter, hurt by her own anger.
We know this, though we forget.
Nothing wants to suffer. Not the Ukranians,
being bombed, fighting for their right to exist;
not the Russian protesters, risking prison
to tell their government they don't want this war;
not the rest of us, holding our breath, hoping
a madman won't hit the button that starts
(and swiftly ends) a nuclear war
and the planet.
and the planet.
Nothing wants to suffer, and yet we do,
through what we do to one another,
to Mother Earth, to the beyond-human realm,
to the forest, the ocean, the very sky above.
We know this, though we forget.
We forget.
We forget.
Inspired by the words of Linda Hogan, quoted above, and by the title of the poem, "Nothing Wants to Suffer", written by Danusha Lameris. The italicized words are theirs.
I will share this with earthweal's open link on Friday.
A very timely and relevant poem! So much suffering - personal, war-related, earth- related. So much we know, but so easily forget.
ReplyDeleteI feel your frustration, anguish and concerns, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteSherry, your truth is impossible to deny.
ReplyDeleteWe know this, though we forget.
ReplyDelete... so beautiful...
It's very difficult to write into the Ukraine invasion with a full enough heart but this is so well done. The opening statement "no one wants to suffer" is painted in natural and immediate family ways (the octopus tale is concisely abundant); writ large in Ukraine it's still the same suffering but the magnitude is knee-buckling, just as imagining the suffering of the sixth extinction. Hardest to accept that if you suffer, if octopi and Ukrainian children suffer, we all do. That's the part that is so hard to accept. Thanks Sherry, I know there's a toll to writing this way - but its essential work.
ReplyDeleteTyrants despots tsars need to be flushed out by a king tide.History repeats itself...we're good at forgetting
ReplyDelete