Vox Populi
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Arlene Weiner: Attachments
After disaster, and even during,
public men draw quick lessons—
usually those that they already
have PowerPoint slides for.
So, the moral
of the New Orleans massacre
by van, the Los Angeles fires,
the North Carolina floods?
Climate change, or malfeasance.
Diversity efforts, or lack of caring.
The lesson I draw over and over
is, everything can change
in a moment.
All that you have is lent.
My house may be broken into.
My son may be hit by a car.
I may wake up one morning
to find my bedmate cold and still.
Yet I can’t learn non-attachment.
A whale carries for months her dead calf.
Arlene Weiner’s poetry collections include More (Ragged Sky 2023). She lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Arlene,
I can’t seem to get Linked In to post this. Will send you
an e-mail. You have such a green heart! Lovely poem. CAW
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Arlene,
I can’t seem to get Linked In to post this. Will send you
an e-mail. You have such a green heart! Lovely poem. CAW
LikeLike
Arlene,
I can’t seem to get Linked In to post this. Will send you
an e-mail. You have such a green heart! Lovely poem. CAW
LikeLike
Ah, indeed–one never knows when life will take a 90-degree turn. The last line of this poem is such a marvel & surprise!
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I’m definitely sharing this one with my discussion group!
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No nonsense. Says what needs saying. Terrific.
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As I’ve said elsewhere, I love Arlene’s poems for their clarity and wisdom.
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You captured the essence perfectly, Michael.
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Everything can change in a New York minute, as one popular song says. This poem lays out the nuances of that uncertainty. The orca at the end tugs at our own grief through poignancy. Other commenters on Vox say it well: We are lent joys, we are lent sorrows. Both lurk in our tomorrows.
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Yes, thanks, Jim.
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Thank you, Arlene: “All that you have is lent.”
All my best – Don
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The power of the last line . . . Thank you, Arlene.
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When Arlene writes, people listen.
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Yes, I love Arlene’s poems for their clarity, craft and wisdom.
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Strange how we need to draw the lesson ‘over and over’, how we sometimes forget and have to be reminded, how we fix on routine and networks and the rituals of each day to allow ourselves a reprieve for a while, from the tenuousness of it all. And how sharp and piercing the lesson can be when we are reminded of it, rarely gently. Thank you, Arlene.
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Thanks, David. Well-put…
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