Saturday, June 25, 2016

Thinking Small

“I’m a fool for tiny things . . . ” -- when recently recalling that line in Dan’s poem, I was inspired to make my own "Witness" video 
full of gnats, mites, and, of course, my take on those "crickety-looking things" forever chirping around us  . . . .
                    
                                                                                                                                         -- Suzanne




_________________________________________________________________________________



Witness 

Lately I’ve slowed the speeding day
by fixing my gaze
                         on the smallest
                         things:
     gnats the shape of an eyelash,   
     mites minute
     as grains of salt.
                          Tonight
it’s a crickety-looking thing.
Bent legged.  Pale-green translucent
wings.  No larger than a crumb
of morning toast, & too near
the drain where I brush
my teeth.
                I’m a fool
for tiny lives admiring
their silence.  I’ve borne them
away from daily harm
                  on paper scraps
              slid
   under wings,
           crushing them,
        at times,
with well-meant
kindness . . . before making it
             clumsily
         down the steps,
    & out
to the garden
where I try to place them
on something
green. 
            Like this one
    that seems too slight
    to survive my
                         touch,
& I can’t stand here
all night long!
             So into the kitchen,
   rinse & spit,
         then back again
for one last look.  It’s
gone
           Oh tiny breathing thing,
godspeed!
                  I really
     meant to save myself
& don’t, for certain, know
from what.  But you?
                      If you’ve
dared to hop
                     or creep
                                   or flit
     into another night, I’ll
trust my own small life
once more to dark
                                                                             & sleep.


________________________________________________________________________________
                 
“Witness”  first appeared in Artful Dodge.