Member Poem

          "and then he shut his eyes again
           as still as they had been before
           he said for me to run along
           and not to bother him anymore"
           - from 'HORSE' by Elizabeth Madox Roberts

so oft we forget when we talk to pets
(or to the animal kingdom et-al)
that they may never be in talking moods

our constant chatter may be bothersome

what if all horses are hermit-monk-like
capable of speech, yet opting silence?

if hermit crabs earned their title honest?

if pachyderms packed poetry in trunks-
camels contemplated colors of clouds
rabbits chant mantras in their holy holes
foxes recite sonnets in silent dens?

do we disturb the solitude of cows?
with our noisome-bellowing cattle calls

solemn frogs belch 'OM' from their creek-bank home,
(the name of God in Adamic language)
finding no other words necessary

our constant chatter may be bothersome
(unlike the melodic chatter of squirrels)

we puff up in our arrogance of speech
assuming all nature should understand
assuming all nature should sing in sync

perhaps we misinterpret their silence,
or perhaps their silence does not exist
perhaps Nature speaks on higher levels
(on a higher frequency, so-to-speak)
we should tune in with greater frequency-
beat-box with birds, whistle with groundhogs

sit at windowsills like cats and stare out
or learn from dogs and wag tails more often
rather than constantly wagging our tongues

****
Originally appeared in 'Estuary Magazine'