Hi and welcome, February!
This is a poem published in my book, 'All That's Left,' along with a painting that depicts a figure holding back a conflagration by pure optimism and will power. The poem alludes to the fact that we learn our core values from our parents and environment the moment we come into the world. Sometimes it feels as if nothing ever changes and that we can't help but live those early lessons throughout our lives. As I get older I am learning through both joys and losses to look at my life and the world with compassion and thus grow out of whatever narrow, self cherishing beliefs I once held. We actually do have the ability to change.
What Leans Close
The world births itself in increments;
violence and grace hover above
our cribs like mobiles.
We watch the glow of animals and stars
jostle and sway—
each dangling wire a shiny
tentacle of flame.
We reach for what leans close.
The power to choose leaves
as what we grasp seizes us,
becomes permanent
in our new clay.
Still wet, we rise on wobbly legs
into the future that holds the sculpted imprint
of the tools that make us
fit the mold
of what we have been told.
- Poem by Rosalind Brenner
One of of 20 Poems and 20 Paintings published in Rosalind's book All That's Left