Animal Empathy
an animal antiphon
assimilated aborigineswe are Antaeus
earth our arboretumit is not a matter of thinking
it begins here: we bandtogether, a braid
of betrothal and betrayalthe human biography
curators of creationwe cannot continue
to consume without consequencesinking deep into demise
we must listen, we must hearthe descant of the Dervish
or die with the devilsof our own nature
this, our dilemmadiscipline, or distress
feel the drummingthe ebb, the elapse
of human dynastywe are the element
of our own extinctionor we embark on a voyage
of enlightened empathy
The Empathy Animal
we claim that empathy
emanates from the human brainthat elegant and enigmatic organ
that distinguishes us from our cousinsthe ground of our disposition
or perhaps of our self-deceptionwe consecrate our deviation
in this dialectic with our kinfrom the time we left our caves
we have blamed on them our carnal selveswe say the beast in us is base
a barb in the flesh of all that's bestbut it's our apish arrogance
that divides us from the rest
read write prompt #84: fun with the dictionary
Totally Optional Prompt: Spontaneity/Planning
Again, the two prompts work together. Usually I think and/or write and then work with what comes. This time I followed the guidance in Matthea Harvey's essay “Don Dada On The Down Low Getting Godly In His Game: Between and Beyond Play and Prayer in the Abecedarius”, working through the dictionary from animal to empathy and back again.
This exercise seems to have elicited my expository self. Not a strong suit for me, I think.
[Thursday morning: a bit of slight editing]
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