3am and I’m awake
not even sure what I’m thinking
out there, there are bean plants
unfurling in the dark,
those fat first leaves,
and I’m wondering
what will happen now, and
out there, the stars
are moving in fixed patterns
jazzed by satellites
and I have fragments of fears
and questions
and an emptiness in my belly, and
out there, moths are waltzing
in their crazy dances
and I’m awake
listening to your breathing, and
out there, bats are diving,
sonar-guided
and we have no guide,
no rhythm, no pattern –
we are unfurling
fractal humans
seeking a new shape.
Just sneaking in to Earthweal this week – wondering about the future, full of uncertainty. As usual with Brendan’s prompts, my head is full of half-thoughts and broken images, and a sense of urgency that I find hard to capture.
I love this. The juxtapositioning of the beauty of the world with the anxiety and out of controllness of the human world. Beautiful.
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We’re unfurling like the bean plants, everything striving to live under whatever conditions we find ourselves in. I love your work. On Monday Brendan and I are holding an online protest – do hope you will come, unfurl your banner, and protest whatever keeps you awake at night – or feel free to protest it all!
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I can’t quite conceptualise an online protest, but let me know what’s happening!
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Just a poem or bit of prose on whatever issue you care most passionately about. Smiles.
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Fractal humans seeking a new shape – what a wonderful way of describing the inter-connection between us all in this collective experience of the pandemic and also of our connection to the natural world – the unfurling bean shoot, the moths and the stars. I loved your poem. It is one to savour and reflect on.
Your thoughts on the Earthweal prompts correspond with my own. They are compelling.
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The unsettledness is palpable in the rhythm. Everything is more intense at 3 am. And yet…the natural world calls, leads us into other realms, other ways. Which will we choose? (K)
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Yes you captured the feelings of insomnia quite well!! I dealt with it for a year and a half and overcame it. I share my experience here https://donovancarper.com/index.php/2020/02/08/my-insomnia-experience-part-3-sleeping-naturally-at-last/
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