An offering
Your weekly dose of fresh poetry #116
I offer a drop to the earth
but it falls on a boiling hot plate
if only the drop could reinvigorate
and see so needed green shoots' birth.
A long time ago I was talking to a friendly guy. We were close to one of the historical Inca sites, I think it was Sacsayhuamán. My new friend was drinking something from a bottle. Maybe Inka Cola. Then, he poured the final drops on the ground and mumbled something. It was like an automatism. One of those gestures you always make without even thinking about it. I was intrigued. So I asked what that was. He explained he always offered the last drops of a drink to Pachamama a goddess we would refer to as Mother Earth. A lovely gesture, which I sometimes find myself making as well.
When I did so last summer, one filled with unprecedented high temperatures and dry spells, I remembered this story. And looking at where the drops fell, I hoped we could all make some gestures to heal our planet, our Mother Earth.
Don’t forget to scroll down for Poetics in life and Poetry elsewhere.
Poetics in life
Apparently, it was World Kindness Day not long ago. A great day to celebrate, although it’s also good to celebrate and show kindness everyday. Without limits. Endlessly. Like in this very short film by Vishak Hariharan:
We tend to believe that our ability to enjoy what we see, to enjoy art or nature, to enjoy the esthetics of it all, is what distinguishes us from animals. Well, maybe we have to rethink that. Because now scientists have witnessed a chimpanzee showing off a very cool… well, watch this video to see the amazing object she wants to show off. It’s not so much about the object, as it is about the gesture.
One day, a long time ago, I was wandering through the Louvre museum in Paris. Somehow, I did not want to join the masses that were crowding the hall where that famous painting was on display. So, I strolled down some smaller corridors and was drawn to this beautiful painting by Guido Reni. I’m not a religious person, but this painting just beamed beautifully. The use of only a few colours and how the light is captured is, in my opinion, masterful. What is an artwork that caught you by surprise?
Poetry elsewhere
A lone tree that stands tall in a storm. I really like the poem Linda Laforge wrote around that image. Read (and collect an NFT edition) here: Lone Tree.
What does nowhere have to offer? Nothing? But by naming it Nowhere, it suddenly becomes somewhere. And what it has to offer? Well, you can imagine whatever you like. First, read this lovely poem, Nowhere is Somewhere, by Suzanne to get into the mood:
Being young means there is still a lot to learn. Some of those things you can learn from books, or YouTube tutorials, or teachers. Other things, you just have to live through, experience, and figure out how it works best for you. One of those things is love, and Julia Fae describes that in a lovely way in this poem Young Love:
