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| The Bobo Doll Experiment |
Every day I am a
survivor.
I know before reading
the news
by counting throbbing
eardrum beat,
touching shoulders
and feeling feet
as soles reach for
partner soul’s warmth.
Human desires exceed
our grasp, the dead
remind us by daily
absence
and by the count out
from silence
of daily lists of
casualties.
Why do we not count
down the survivors?
World meters dot info
turn-churn
10 more births per
second over
seven point three
million living—
But they do not
subtract the toll
of daily suicide
bombers,
inescapable drones,
numbers
of children drowned,
sacrifices.
They don't record fatalities
hidden
in homes or enforced legally
so women pay unequally
with rape, battery, slavery.
Not numb yet, I
visualize cartoon
pop-up character Road
Runner
and Wily Coyote’s
ever-
more complex killing
schematics.
The weak outwits the
strong but never ends
its life. No. Bozo, he waits, he
bounces back, like
fall-winter nee
the spring-summer, he
cycles on.
Wake up slowly, no
numb-er than before,
number ourselves
among the in-
evitable ever living
spirit striving on
despite all.
We let our reach
exceed our grasp as much
as possible—much more
as led—
beyond our own living
and dead
to where we wake a
difference
every day we are survivors.
Copyright © 2015 S.L.Chast
So true, Susan. Every day we are survivors. I have been doing a lot of thinking about that. Often the casualties are listed, and sometimes I wonder why them....and not me? We really need to celebrate each day of life, I think. Each day of surviving among all of the tragedy of today's world. If only life were as simple as it was in those old Road Runner cartoons. If only those suicide bombers blew up only themselves. If only........
ReplyDeleteWhat a moving comment, Mary! Exactly. Thank you.
DeleteA hard thing – and yet a triumph too.
ReplyDeleteIt was important for me to remember that this week especially. Thank you for your comment, Rosemary.
DeleteYes, each one a survivor, though in our countries, we are definitely among the more fortunate on the planet. Still, there is much to survive, and a valiant effort is involved. Smiles. I resonate rather too well with Bobo doll....especially that ever-present gritted-teeth smile, LOL. I love "spirit striving on despite all." Yes.
ReplyDeleteI never had a Bozo the Clown Bobo until my first counselor. Very therapeutic to hit back in abstentia.
DeleteYes, so true..."what's the remedy ?" this rings in mind sometimes...we all are lucky in a way...
ReplyDeleteWe let our reach exceed our grasp as much
as possible—much more as led—
beyond our own living and dead
to where we wake a difference
every day we are survivors.
Nice ending!!
I feel this so powerfully. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteTo be able to survive the horror which we see and hear everyday on the news..experience its result on our world.. takes up most of our soul and its energy.. how wise of you to say that every day we are survivors! Beautifully executed.
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Yes,as you say, it takes so much spirit. Certainly not as bad as being there though. Thank you, Sanaa.
DeleteThank you for reminding me of the Bobo doll experiment! Yes everyday we survive...in so many ways..no wonder we sometimes need to gently hit something from time to time
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd hit it so gently! It's so rare that a woman gets to hit back at her oppressor. Thank you, Jae Rose.
DeleteBring back throwing rotten cabbages I say:)
DeleteWe are all survivors. In every country there are the unseen who do not. It is not blasted on tv because there are not enough numbers to make it sensational.
ReplyDeleteWe need to open our heart and look close to home. Begin help and true understanding there and it will grow.
Very thought provoking.
"We need to open ..." You have left me a poem, Gail. And wisdom. Thank you.
DeleteI luv your opening Line, every woman should chant this as a mantra
ReplyDeletethanks for an awesome prompt, didnt think i could write the poem i wrote today in the mood it was written. you prompted i responded.
much love...
I will chant, my friend. Thank you for your comment and for your poem.
DeleteSo true. A very thought provoking poem on survival.
ReplyDeleteIf only the terrorists and suicide bombers only killed themselves....and we truly are survivors. Eight years ago, celebrated Thanksgiving at home after being hospitalized and surgery done for cancer. I survived! Excellent prompt with all the nuances of survival. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIf only! I am so happy that you are a survivor, Toni. Your writing is a gift!
DeleteI hit publish too soon - the opening line is incredible. We are a most fortunate country and yet, we have to learn to survive from violence being done, injustice in the job market, rape, prejudice. We all survive but we have to learn to live rather than just survive. A very thought provoking poem.
ReplyDeleteLiving beyond survival. I have a feeling you have learned this.
DeleteYes, we are, in one way or another....sometimes to survive the sorrow of our own lives, no more no less than another...it can be generated by so many things....some will be strong survive and some will not, no one for long.....we won't survive the end.
ReplyDeleteYes, dear Annell, you are right. But until then, will we ever learn to live?
DeleteSurvivors we may be but now our hearts are filled with sadness. We may have become the most advanced creatures on this earth but for all that we have learned so little about love and survival.
ReplyDeleteYou speak truth. Perhaps there is still time to learn.
DeleteSurviving can be difficult as it takes strength in times of chaos no matter what the situation. Your poem makes the reader pause to contemplate the greater meaning of survival.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Truedessa. I think there is a greater meaning and hoope to live into understanding what it is!
Deleteamong the inevitable ever living
ReplyDeletespirit striving on despite all
The desire to survive will make one strive on despite the obstacles and difficulties along the way. Great lines Susan!
Hank
Desire and will. Yes, Kaykuala, circumstances allowing. For this I pray for everyone.
DeleteI have worked with and met some amazing survivors - men and women put in foreign prison, gulags, living on the streets. Children who have grown up in bars (or worse.) The amazing things is we bounce back and we even reach down and pull a fellow survivor up.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we are survivors everyday. I see the news, read the newspaper and shudder, pinch myself to know I'm still alive. I consider myself as a fortunate one and I pray this fortune for all of us..
ReplyDeleteGreat lines, Susan... :-)
I like this very much Susan: every day we are survivors.
ReplyDeleteHope you are well ~
I may have read this in a specific light considering how well I know the Bobo doll study. Very powerful, anyhow. Thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteYour lines help us to pause and check what true survival means...and, when the chips are down or going gets touch, this very fact w'll help us stay buoyant - we have survived, we are survivors, every day - every moment...Awesome write!
ReplyDeleteWe live in an ever-riskier world where our lives and sanity are constantly under attack. To be a survivor in such times is no mean feat. A thought provoking and poignant poem, Susan...
ReplyDelete