do speak freely
don’t hide behind your smile
please don’t be coy
is that to be our future …
yet, there’s a chance you’re wrong
do speak freely
oh, secret keeper
nothing blows in the wind
no reasons nor excuses
they’re only wayward points of view
yet, there’s a chance you’re wrong
oh, secret keeper
perhaps there’s time
our revolution never did come
nay – nor our evolution
true, mindless masters glibly rule us
yet, there’s a chance you’re wrong
perhaps there’s time
do speak freely
oh, secret keeper
perhaps there’s time
[rejoice life triumphs]
© G.s.k. ‘16
§§§§§§§§
I heard about the return of the animals to Chernobyl just yesterday. Some of you might have already known about it. The damage that has been done by our species to the earth has been tremendous. We’ve stripped the world of its forests and grasslands, we’ve poisoned the water and the air, where man passes, nothing grows that man doesn’t want (that’s not exact there are those who are as hardy as man, like cockroaches and rats). Sometimes we leave desolation, the list is long – from the Fertile Crescent to the Easter Islands and then goes on.
Yet after one of the worst nuclear disasters in our short history of nuclear power … which obliged mankind to evacuate and abandon the zone, nature’s creatures have returned to the area from where they’d been exiled and they thrive. No doubt, there are mutations, there will be birth defects but life goes on and thrives and this is due to the absence of mankind. A comforting thought on one hand, that even after we’ve destroyed ourselves life will continue and on the other hand, what a heavy weight to carry.
The Form Used
The form I used is an experimental invented form which I created for the occasion of last week’s Secret Keeper. When I first published it on my blog it had no name yet. I’M undecided as whether to call it “ l’Eco” or The Echo Form (L’Eco is Italian for The Echo) because of the repetition. (The subject of this poem would point to another eco 😉 )
Here’s the structure of the form:
- A four stanza poem
- Word count 3-5-4-6-6-3 (except for the last stanza)
- The first and last lines repeat in each stanza.
- The fifth line is the same in each stanza throughout the poem
- The last stanza is a four line “conclusion” where each of the first lines of the poem echo – the fourth line [closed in brackets] ties the whole poem up.
(5) Words: | WIND | SPEAK | FREE | START | FIGHT |
I so like the form you’ve invented. L’eco sounds poetic and describes the “action.”
The piece you created for this week’s Secret Keeper is powerful.
I saw a PBS nature show on wolves and foxes in Chernobyl. People are allowed in for only short periods of time, so a lot of the research had to be done on the edges. There are birth defects, but at the same time, there is rebirth and repopulation. So fascinating. Like a post-apocalyptic book or movie.
I so agree with your commentary after the poem. And, that life is returning is so amazing.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the form Phylor, I’m thinking of formally presenting it this week at B&P … (running out of forms are we) … I heard about this during the interview of a woman I’m thinking of presenting for my conversations class this week. I really think sometimes that we’re so anthropocentric that we just don’t realize that even if we kill ourselves off the planet and life will repair itself and continue. There have been cataclysms in the past and nature just patiently went on her way, without dinosaurs or whatever, she’ll certainly do the same without humans.
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I like the way youhaveused this prompt. I didn’t know about the animals coming back. At last a story of hope!
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Thanks Suzanne, that’s what I thought when I heard about the return of the beasts to their habitat. I just hope man stay away now.
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Yes, it would be wonderful to see nature reclaiming the area. I thought about it afterwards – I don’t think the animals would go there if it was really radio-active. I imagine they would sense that and stay away.
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I’m not so sure about that .. but let’s say they’d have died off if the place was deadly .. so I imagine that it’s not as deadly as we thought. On the other hand, few of us are willing to risk birth defect, cancer or whatever.
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I guess I was being too optimistic
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It’s better for the beasties if we do keep out and we won’t if we think the place is safe
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True
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So hopeful, and with an incantation feel to it. I like this form, Bastet 🙂
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Thanks Paloma, it came together last week with prompt I wrote for the Secret Keeper and I was wondering if I could use it again for a different subject (the first one was lovey-dovey). Yep .. I can. And I was so pleased to see how nature takes care of herself, we tend to forget that in our anthropocentric vision of Earth.
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An excellent, thoughtful write, G
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Thanks Chris … life is so fantastic!
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G, I’m proud to know you– You have figured out what most people never do — it’s all about attitude !!!! 🙂 🙂
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Thanks Chris … you move me and yes my dear, it’s about attitude as you well know … if we could just fall in love with life …
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Nature comes back to try and heal the wounds. Why do we keep making them though?
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Of course that is the main question. We do it because we are anthropocentric … we have no consciousness of the other … from the lowly bacteria to other mammals from plants to water systems. We only see our own personal survival as important and don’t work together with the rest of the planet. We’re going or maybe we’ve gone too far with 7 billion people on the planet, global warming, the impoverishment of the soil, the filth we keep pumping into the atmosphere – the exclusion of the other beasts from the lands we’ve taken over for our farms, factories and homes … but I’m happy to see that life will continue, despite the disasters we have created and will return even if we’re gone.
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So many literate and articulate people think the same way, but the people who count, the tiny percentage who own the entire planet don’t care. They see everything in terms of their own lifespan, and since they’re mainly middle aged, that’s not very long. Power corrupts. Take away the accumulation of power? No moguls and magnates and despots would make a humanist way possible?
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I really couldn’t say what would make a humanist way possible. We handed in our rights about 10,000 years ago when we took up agriculture .. in the sense the creating surplus allowed some to dedicate more time to things beyond immediate survival – this was good as far as allowing carpenters and artisans to do their thing, but then we though we needed someone to organize our society to make sure everything was divided equally, and someone to keep the peace or defend the clan, and of course there were those for our spiritual needs. Then it went haywire … it was fairly gradual I think and as the population grew so did power … and so did corruption by power …
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In fact, people were just a great big mistake. We talk about this at home, and the male members of the family always argue that Man has made a real mess of the planet, but only Man is equipped to put it right, and Man will. Being a woman, I have serious doubts about that.
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And I can’t but echo your doubts Jane … I’m not really sure they ARE equipped to put it right.
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They’re certainly equipped to do as much destroying as you want, but put things right?
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An optimistic tale of tragedy leading to renewal. Aside from the 8 ft catfish, the land has returned nature into its natural form minus humans. It looks idyllic now. Lets hope no one gets any ideas about development. Let nature win this battle, Your poem in the form of The Echo is a good style to work with. As far as revolutions and evolutions, I speak of peaceful progress accomplished through votes and elected governments who stand for the good of all and want the many to be given purpose to their lives. That includes everyone.Your presentation was beautifully done and informative. I, also, did not realize the animals had returned. It seems a safe place for them in Chernobyl. – jk
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Well … I’m not partial to revolutions myself – even if modern democracy was born from a revolution – revolution has it’s defect in it’s very name … revolve, which to me means that the profiteers just recycle and come back to power with a different name and dna — but basically the same ego-type – ergo “The Animal Farm” syndrome. Evolution would be what I’d wish for if I had a wish – to grow out of our anthropocentric animal state into truly wiser creatures – the kind that would be closer to our spiritual ideals. Let’s hope that people stay scared of Chernobyl until we become at least a little wiser.
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Wisdom is the word. If people would grow within, the outer world would be able to develop. I agree evolution would be the best way to proceed. I only use the word revolution as a world of active protest but non-violent. I do not condone nor would I want violence to solve any situation in the world. Let us all evolve in a peaceful fashion and someday gain peace across the whole world. No more Chernobyl or anything similar coming from the skies.
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If we could only adopt that message across the globe, who knows maybe it would be possible for us to finally live in harmony with our planet.
I think our technical knowledge grew far more faster than our emotional make-up … we’re a weird mix of violent apes and childish egocentrics. It’s scary when you think of creatures like this with not only atomic weapons but also trying to deal with all the unravelling our technology has brought about because we know nothing about (nor do we ever think about) long term consequences – collectively we have a short attention span.
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