Remember when we changed our tune from City on the Hill
to Melting Pot? From Melting Pot to Salad Bowl? I don’t either.
I don’t mind salad which can be tossed and dressed and served,
but much prefer imagining a box of crayons, the bigger the better
(As long as we can still carry it, as long as it doesn’t exceed
the magnitude of its form) and allowing so much creative difference
That the skies sit up and take notice page after page, a never ending
story, a layered collage that refuses to morph into a hologram
That broken does not become little miniatures of itself, but becomes
so impoverished that all its elements contrive to stay whole.
Unity of heart is not conformity, is not swallowing the dis-harmonies
of sound but displaying them excitedly in a music festival
In a museum of art without walls, a lending library of products
and tools, an endless street of restaurants, a curving forest crust
Visible from outer and inner space, happy habitat of humanity
which has enough of enough not to need cannibals ever again.
I prefer the tune from boxes of crayons and art supplies that we can
replenish and expand without feeding on each other.
Posted for my Prompt
Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Unity
My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright.
Please respect my copyright.
© 2017 Susan L. Chast
Unity of heart is not conformity, is not swallowing the dis-harmonies
ReplyDeleteof sound but displaying them excitedly in a music festival
This is soo powerful.. so deep.. it urges me to ponder and it urges me to sing!!❤️ xo
There's an awful lot of feeding on each other that goes on in this world. I share your hope that it might, somehow, diminish.
ReplyDelete"....that all its elements contrive to stay whole." We need to heed this message well in the days to come. An awesome write, my friend. I adore the vision of that "happy habitat of humanity" - the way it was meant to be - a garden of delight.
ReplyDeleteCreativity as you imply is the answer however we need to be sensible about it as too much of what we need is being traded for a too great a price to allow a few make a huge profit especially in pharmaceuticals. That is definitely not humane. Meanwhile half the world is happy to see the other half starve whilst wasting enough food to feed millions. Unity has a different meaning when you have a fat wallet.
ReplyDeleteWell that got me worked up!
I think, women are beautiful with a touch of red and black somewhere. With big box of crayons, what a rainbow I can make. This is my view of the world. Great poem...
ReplyDeleteLuv your box of crayon metaphor Susan
ReplyDeleteMuch love...
I think crayons are a very good place to start - you made me remember the smell and the possibilities of a fresh box and a clean piece of paper to make magic on
ReplyDelete"happy habitat of humanity" & add to it "Unity of heart" & "a music festival"...how perfectly "a layered collage" emerges with the 'tune' from 'boxes of crayons' and who would not wish it to be a 'never ending story'? this is truly Unity....beautiful Susan....
ReplyDeleteOh, this is such a beautiful poem, Susan. "Tuning" (most worked-upon emotion, I guess) sounds so mesmeric here-- Art making is my way of bringing soul back into my life and the colours take me apart; and put me back together again!!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting....:)))
'I prefer the tune from boxes of crayons and art supplies that we can
ReplyDeletereplenish and expand without feeding on each other'.
It sounds relevant.I liked your version.
A beautiful poem, Susan. The self-evident "unity is not conformity" is so hard for many people to comprehend...
ReplyDelete