A Warning 26/31 #SOL2024

education 1 Minute

The inward flow of attentive thought

abruptly ripped and redirected:

“maybe, this attention to the land

keeps me from looking at people or,

inward-focused ground-ward, I can escape”.

The land in recovery struggles in browns and greys,

dull hues tell the story of lack: time without radiance.

The land is in recovery, like he;

the startling thought returns – a warning.

“I have faith that plants will return from darkness,

that green shoots will sprout, the grass will find a way

despite the withered brown before my eyes,

so doubt must be safe and familiar

when such potential is evident…

everywhere.

Published by Melanie White

I am a retired English and Media Studies teacher, and former Department Head of Fine Arts at Nepean High School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I am concerned with equity and antiracist practices while recognizing that I am speaking from a position of privilege and continuing to learn.

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8 thoughts on “A Warning 26/31 #SOL2024”

  4. “maybe, this attention to the land

    keeps me from looking at people or,

    inward-focused ground-ward, I can escape”.

    That I can feel as I read it; the almost awkwardness of trying to be inner reflective and then having to interact; and what to do…there is this surity in the unsurity here.

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  6. These lines speak of despair and of hope. Your poem is one of renewal, recovery – and promise. I particularly love these lines:

    “I have faith that plants will return from darkness,

    that green shoots will sprout, the grass will find a way

    despite the withered brown before my eyes,

    No matter how hopeless something seems, you show in your poem that there is always hope – – even as we see something different, it can change. I love this on the literal and symbolic level. 

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