And speaking of my buddy Noodle…
Today, in honor of the worms
and, really, everyone else who "persists, oblivious, in service" —
this poem.
What if folks really knew "the good they confer" on the rest of us?
What if we tended to each other as if we had a "debt to angels"?
What if nobody waited "for reciprocity"?
That’d be something, wouldn’t it?
Worms
BY CARL DENNIS
Aren’t you glad at least that the earthworms
Under the grass are ignorant, as they eat the earth,
Of the good they confer on us, that their silence
Isn’t a silent reproof for our bad manners,
Our never casting earthward a crumb of thanks
For their keeping the soil from packing so tight
That no root, however determined, could pierce it?
Imagine if they suspected how much we owe them,
How the weight of our debt would crush us
Even if they enjoyed keeping the grass alive,
The garden flowers and vegetables, the clover,
And wanted nothing that we could give them,
Not even the merest nod of acknowledgment.
A debt to angels would be easy in comparison,
Bright, weightless creatures of cloud, who serve
An even brighter and lighter master.
(Read the rest here…)
That’s really lovely, and I must say, it ties into what I was talking about re: the “wild depictions of things.” Who knew you and Carl were in on it too?
Oh, serendipity! Which is also kind of wild and poetic!
Such a perfect poem!
I really love it, too….
Lovely! Reminds me of this quote by Thomas Carlyle:
“The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.”
Tabatha
Oh, isn’t THAT delicious???
tanita says:
Interesting the turn it takes into the literal, talking about the lover. It’s almost like there are two poems there – two distinct thought processes. It’s a bonus poem!
Re: tanita says:
A two-fer! My favorite kind….
I love this poem; it makes me sad, too.
There is something melancholy afoot, to be sure. But it is so lovely and thoughtful, isn’t it?
Oh my Liz…how lovely…
Yes.
I really like that poem!
(Wish I could be more articulate, but I’m under the weather and feeling rather slow-witted.)
Hope you feel better!!!!
This evening, this poem is making me think of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Famous” and I am feeling grateful to all of those whom I owe thanks…but never notice. Happy Poetry Friday night. A.
Oh, I LOVE that NSN poem, too…. And I see what you mean…
Love this. A poem, ostensibly, about worms. And it’s making me think so hard about work and recognition and service and persistence…and soil.
Yes. Poems are so often “ostensibly” about something, aren’t they?
worms
Sometimes animal poems don’t work for me…this is not one of those times. Thanks for bringing a terrific poem to my attention.
Re: worms
Oooo, so glad it passed your high bar!! I love it, too. It’s just about soooo much!
Lovely, the way this poem starts out about worms but morphs into so much more! Hope you’re finding time to breathe now!
Yes. Breathing. Reading poetry 🙂