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| Photo by Carly Simon posted on Facebook, January 28, 2015 |
It’s as if Christmas was coming
round all over again – roads
so busy, stores so packed, faces
so intent. We do love our doom-
sayers; we also love preparing
for the end of the world.
Everything has a purpose.
Flashlight batteries, rock salt,
milk have been transformed
from uninteresting to
essential.
We scan the skies. We
remember what clouds look
like, how they move, how
they lord it over us.
We all believe in the same
higher power, united
in our need to defend
and shelter ourselves,
keep our bellies full.
No one disagrees, not even
about scientific fact; we
accept that every snowflake
has six points and is mostly
made of water, as are we.
Catherine Wald is a poet, journalist, translator and author whose books include poetry (Distant, burned-out stars, Finishing Line Press, 2011), nonfiction (The Resilient Writer: Stories of Rejection and Triumph From 23 Top Authors, Persea Books, 2005) and a translation from French of Valery Larbaud’s Childish Things (Sun & Moon Press). Her poems have been published in American Journal of Nursing, Buddhist Poetry Review, Chronogram, Exit 13, Friends Journal, Jewish Literary Journal, The New Poet, Society of Classical Poets, The 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly and Westchester Review.