By Paul Nelson
Earth Closed. Which was the sky’s wish the birds, trees, unspoken mammal wish as if heterotrophs had a vote (& shd) & then do when they conspire to halt “human progress” for a few weeks, lighten the air, unclog the cities, add a dash of the duende to the stew we call life without sports without eating out within no closer than six feet of the average human germ-spewing capability. Earth closed. As a reset button as in what’s in it besides ratrace for you as in how might you act in prison but still cooking your own meals as in get to enjoy, really enjoy brown rice. Earth first. Finally. We had it coming, we stable geniuses knowing humans have all the answers, all the technology, all the gear except for face masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper & ventilators. Duendification of life resynchronizes us with the nuthatch and redwing, the coot raft and seagulls and there is no panic buying by the lake, there is no hoarding (except for squirrel) there’s nothing but these last three days of winter and a slight sense of the new normal in late capitalism.
September 20, 2020
About Paul Nelson
Poet & interviewer Paul E Nelson founded the Cascadia Poetics LAB and the Cascadia Poetry Festival. Since 1993, the organization has produced hundreds of poetry events & 700 hours of interview programming with legendary poets.
The mission of Cascadia Poetics LAB is: Empowering people to practice poetry & deepen connections to place, self & the present moment.
No kidding, brother. A powerful paragraph.
Love this one!
Yeah… oh yeah! – In specific, your: “We had it coming, we stable geniuses knowing humans have all the answers, all the technology, all the gear except for face masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper & ventilators.” – Now no facetiousness here, no dis here – rather “an add-on reciprocality” (with full mea culpa regarding the self-serving fact of this responder’s own work): When in need of essentials, even food, there’s always “Toilet Paper Sandwiches, Again, Dad?”
Love your Sonnet!
Dear Paul, Beautiful! A little too close to home for my comfort (at this point I’m all about comfort), but duendification of life resynchronizing me with the nuthatch and the redwing was promising. Will I become a an inspired pixie? (see Oxford dictionaries by way of google): duen·de
/do͞oˈendā,ˈdwendā/
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noun
noun: duende; plural noun: duendes
1.
a quality of passion and inspiration.
2.
(in the folklore of Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines) a supernatural being or spirit resembling a pixie or imp.
Origin
late 17th century (in duende (sense 2)): from Spanish, contraction of duen de casa, from dueño de casa ‘owner of the house’.
Translate duende to
Use over time for: duende