 |
| Detail from Peace and Prosperity (1896), by artist Elihu Vedder, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C |
Let me tell you about home-coming at
the Coll-ege of War in Future Peace:
Bands play “this little heart of mine” as two
or more teams each solve a jigsaw puzzle
with pieces mixed together [ ] divided
e-quall-y [ ] placed on separate tables—
Crowds wit-ness strategy and cooper-
ation, since no one wins unless all win.
Let me tell you about the homecoming
queens, always the newest and the oldest
members of society, always next
year’s organizers, surrounded by love.
Crowds wit-ness as they build teams from weedy
wall-flowers, each one precious and needed.
Let me tell you about the home we build
in our hearts for those who commune with us
and dare envision fu-tures so free of
competition that we root in nature.
Our last incarnations are as saplings
together holding on to our planet.Posted at Abhra's Poetics : Homecoming at dVerse Poets Pub.
Marked for Gay's Your (Own) Beat at dVerse Poets Pub.
Copyright © 2014 S.L.Chast
OH! MY! GOODNESS! This is brilliant, beautiful, and as hopeful as it gets. From your mouth to humans' (all of us!) ears!!!!!!!! Can you set up a game like this in the Middle East, do you think?? Visionary work, Susan. And how I love your vision.
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful place that would be eh? all that cooperation...and problem solving...mixing of generations...love the rather magic of that last bit...coming back as trees holding the planet together....we can hope cant we?
ReplyDeleteThe only way of winning.. I love that.. such games usually end up with a few sabotaging to gain a smaller profit for them self (I have seen it happen)... alas it only takes one ... it only takes one.
ReplyDeletewow!!! wow!!! wow!!!! Brilliant! and your writing fills this world with hope and joy.
ReplyDeleteI love this piece very much. :)
loved those last two lines
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be great, if we all cooperate, we all win ~ Sometimes I think that the way to peace is through war as one only understands and appreciates peace after experiencing turmoil & much sadness ~ But what a dream, hey ~
ReplyDeleteOur last incarnations are as saplings
ReplyDeletetogether holding on to our planet.
ugh, a great close to a wonderful write! Amazing, Susan :)
to quote the old star-trek line: Make is so :)
ReplyDeleteCrowds witness strategy and cooper-
ReplyDeleteation, since no one wins unless all win.
Very true in all forms of debates or human conflicts violent or otherwise. Great write Susan!
Hank
Very true..........and a good message.
ReplyDeletenice...the inclusion of the pauses in the second stanza add like another layer of punctuation to each of those statements....very effective susan
ReplyDeleteThat reasoning you have in your beat Susan, falls so natural in this poem - that I so well remember.. Great to revisit with my drum next to me..
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful homecoming :).
ReplyDeleteAhh..to share instead of compete is the way to peace..and actually documented in Anthropology as the 20 most peaceful societies..are all so called primitive ones..where the child is the prize..and village raises the child together..to share for survival to know we rely on each other true..and depend on the life of ALL OTHERS.. to get us through!
ReplyDelete"since no one wins unless all win"...what a lovely line Susan !...
ReplyDeleteI love this. The more we envision peace, the more it's reality could set in. I hope.
ReplyDeleteYou're a talented visionary. So nice.
oh that sounds like a wonderful place...equality..and no one wins except all do... the generations peacefully together, learning from each other... what a homecoming indeed
ReplyDeleteExplicating this should start from the bottom up - the word choices make this intense with so many stressed words enjambed - intended that we should stop, pay attention, nothing fluid...I appreciate your marking the caesuras - lots of spondees to stress the importance of the words. I agree with the statements above about the poem in its meaning, the ideas regarding peace, the telescoping of a kind of utopia where strife is a memory. This is an important poem, Susan. Conveying it with proper diction and proper rhythms make it all the more effective.
ReplyDeleteThe is fantastic. I especially enjoy the invitational "Let me tell you..." that leaves the reader thirsty. As well as the line "Let me tell you about the homecoming queens, always the newest and the oldest members of society." How frank and truthful that line is. Much applause.
ReplyDeleteLike the poem; couldn't tell ( from mark-up and/or lack of - I was confused) how to read it. But it reads itself just fine in my accent, lol.
ReplyDeleteGay's comment clued me in better ... maybe. Now I can read it at full gallop, powering on to the end. But I still "hear" some light and shade underneath that: the horses' feet hitting the ground and lifting up again.
I am back for relief after our poems of an alternate future and all I can say is my soul basks in the relief and beauty of your vision......thank you!!!!! May it be so! I love us as saplings, holding onto the earth.
ReplyDeleteLike Sherry, I too am here as an alternative to the bleak pictures of the future - and this is quite a contrast - benign, noble, wish it could be true, or at least parts of it!
ReplyDelete