Waves and waves of
danger beset our lives
when we eat the leftovers from the plates
when we eat the leftovers from the plates
of the privileged
classes. At home and work
the most danger is ours. Visible or invisible,
toxins and tides surround us--
and we are told to be grateful for our fate.
the most danger is ours. Visible or invisible,
toxins and tides surround us--
and we are told to be grateful for our fate.
You seem surprised to hear me speak this way—
this educated white
Euro-American women, retired
teacher with a
pension that affords her a small,
but safe non-toxic
home. Not all doors readily opened
for me, but not because
my skin is black or brown.
I can open my mind,
even if I rarely open my door.
I dream about being on
a raft, unstable unless
I reach in the water
and haul other people on board,
people who huddle
together gratefully, unable
in the moment to notice
class and race—unable
because labels are
unreal. We are human together,
none of us hoarding the
opportunity to survive.
Added later:
I dream of not being on the raft, but among those
reaching toward safety. Will I be pulled on board?
Does it matter? In dreams, I do not die. Even in deathbed
dreams, I am awake, listening. In this dream, I don't know
if I am saved, only that I happily let others go first.
Posted at earthweal open link weekend #24
I have been unable to respond to George Floyd's murder yet in this week that finally moved the country to the civil disobedience and rage that Gets. Things. Done.
My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright.
If you quote, credit this page.
© 2020 Susan L. Chast
Please respect my copyright.
If you quote, credit this page.
© 2020 Susan L. Chast
We not only need to acknowledge our privilege, we need to be willing to share it. Well said.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful write, Susan.
ReplyDeleteI love that helping others aboard is the way to stabilize the tipping raft.............and LOVE the third stanza - in times of threat or turmoil, we set aside everything except being human together, and reach out for each other. I hope this will continue as we face covid, climate crisis and healing the racial divide. Wonderful poem, Susan. Like you, my words seemed to dry up, under the weight of all we are living through.
ReplyDeleteThe mass of the moment -- its volume, violent edges, despair -- can't help but echo hard and loud through the safer rooms some of us are privileged and bound to live in. There are so many oppressions, and though they aren't equal, they are all real. That's the raft we share I think, and the common element is, as you say empathy, that ability to "huddle together gratefully," refusing to hoard "the opportunity to survive." Hard to write anything these weeks, and yours rings the justice bell clearly. Well done - Brendan
ReplyDeleteI love the way you’ve expanded on the old adage ‘we’re all in the same boat’, Susan. I like the line ‘I can open my mind, even if I rarely open my door’, and the image of the raft.
ReplyDelete