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The Web of Sustenance
__Voraciously the lion feeds,
But leaves the scraps for jackals and hyenas—
__To each according to its needs,
In Nature’s sprawling tawny-grass arenas.
__The residue will nourish seeds
Selected to renew the vast savanna.
__By sundry means at different speeds:
To every living tribe its proper manna.
__The wind that cuts across the plain
Is with preferred conditions non-compliant.
__It blows us drought, it blows us rain,
And blows away the proudly self-reliant.
__Accepting what is yours to gain
Might be the very pinnacle of virtue,
__And though at times you feel some pain,
The master plan will never really hurt you.
__Both plants and animals must live
And, most importantly, must live together.
__The pulp that’s caught inside a sieve
May go to waste, and so we wonder whether
__A very thoughtful relative
Might turn it into something rather tasty,
__Which then would make us all forgive
Each other. Let our judgments not be hasty.
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The Least We Can Do
I cannot change Earth’s orbit round the sun
Or alter how an ardent Leftist thinks.
I can’t turn mental torture into fun,
But, sure as birds have feathers, I can vote.
By every measurement, the future stinks,
And people everywhere are on the run.
Our representatives are missing links,
And no one living has an antidote.
Our destiny is always in the hands
Of others who are not up to the job,
So let’s not venture into foreign lands
Where everything is out of our control.
We tend to cater to the reigning mob,
Acceding to their onerous demands,
But don’t become a kernel on their cob
Unless you mean to sacrifice your soul.
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C.B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden. Hundreds of his poems have appeared in scores of print and electronic journals out of North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Australia and India. His collection, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder was published in 2013 by White Violet Press.
“The Web of Sustenance,” with its tetrameter – pentameter alternation, is a delight to read, especially with the careful alternation of masculine – feminine endings in every stanza. And Anderson is not afraid to use a trochaic start to some of his lines, which is perfectly in accord with the traditional practice of iambic verse. The meaning of the poem is somewhat opaque to me, though I recognize Anderson’s point that natural phenomena work themselves out as they should and as they are expected, despite the apparent momentary inconveniences. There’s also something here that no “Animal Rights” whiner seems to understand: in nature, animals have no concern at all about the rights of other animals. Only idiots believe that “The Lion shall lie down with the Lamb.”
“The Least We Can Do” sums up the utter, fed-up contempt that a great many of us feel for the existing sociopolitical situation.
K.A.N.D!
It’s always fun, Joseph, to fool around with metrical jigsaw confabulations. The meaning is “somewhat opaque” because it resides in hackneyed ideas about natural interrelationships and the idea that one creature’s excrement is another creature’s sustenance. As for “animal rights,” we have covered this ground before: Rights pertain only to morally autonomous entities, not to conditioned, instinct-driven creatures.
It’s the least I can do.
1.) “The Web of Sustenance:” Like Dr. Salemi, I find this one to be obtuse, although reading it more than once, I find it fascinating to contemplate your thinking. Oh, I understand the top of the food chain concept and the scavengers awaiting their turn at the remnants. From my own farm experience, that “something rather tasty,” would likely have been canned preserves or canned goods stored for the winter.
2.) “The Least We Can Do:” I really loved, “our representatives are missing links.” What a fabulous characterization. “Not becoming a kernel on the cob” is the perfect admonishment!
I cannot argue, Roy, with anything you wrote.
Please consider how “missing links” can be taken in two ways.
I love these, C.B., especially for the form reasons mentioned above, and for some of the original rhymes (hyena/arena; virtue/hurt you). Also, the ABAD rhyme scheme in the second poem is wonderfully different.
Inventing nonce forms, Cynthia, is the best part of the job. The possibilities are endless. And don’t let anyone tell you that English is a rhyme-poor language.
“The Web of Sustenance” is a power-packed poem with its masculine and feminine rhymes. I loved the most the rhyming of “hyenas…. arenas” and “together ….. whether”. Such a poem has significant relevance in the present era of sustainability.
“The Least We Can Do” reflects the pathetic leftist mindset that many of us can simply watch and do really nothing about it.
Nature, S.S., has sustained itself from the Beginning, and insofar as we humans are natural creatures, it behooves us to participate.
And yes, a dose of Leftist prattle can ruin a perfectly good day.
The Web of Sustenance, for me, is about nature’s sharing essence which is a contrast to human beings. We think we are out of the web or take ourselves out of it because we are arrogant.
It is a very worthy theme.
thank you
I read your poetry, C.B., my pupils dilate and then I become tongue-tied trying to articulate why it is so darned good. A good poet has good taste and yours is consummately good. So when I try to identify what makes your poetry magical above and beyond the sum of its parts, I think it’s a confluence of impeccable choices, starting with the conceit, but inclusive of all artistic choices from meter to rhyme. Your work generally has a philosophical bent, a desire to make sense of an unfathomable world and yet not to clutch at those insights too hard. In “Web” there’s that admonition not to be hasty and, I believe, over-confident. Your insights here, as always, have considerable depth and yet are described in a poetic style which is essentially conversational and spiced with the tiniest details – the pulp inside a sieve, as it were. It is so difficult to achieve what superficially appears to be an ease of expression. Every word is right and your craftsmanship always impeccable – especially your extraordinary ear for rhyme. I wish you could hear me clap with delight at manna and savannah. C.B., I always look to your work to get a handle on how to polish a poem.
C.B., I love both of these poems for their skillful craftmanship – I’m a sucker for the tight weaving of words using poetic devices to create a musicality, and you manage to do with seeming effortlessness – but mainly for the beauty of their wisdom. For me, the two poems complement one another and tell me there is much to be learned from the constants of nature, and we are somewhat powerless in the grand scheme of things. Knowing that soothes my troubled heart. I thoroughly enjoyed these poems, C.B. – thank you!