today at school
we looked up
way up
on top
of the carved art pole
covered in languages
all saying one thing
‘peace’
a hopeful sign
the kinder
could not stop watching
this beautiful bird
as it flew up to the tree
and off into the sky.
—
we may be losing the ability
to understand animals who are not pets or horses.
we have less contact with them.
we don’t (most of us) tend to know even cows or pigs,
let alone bears or wolverines or red tailed hawks.
*-marge piercy
*Marge Piercy (1936) is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. Her work includes Woman on the Edge of Time; He, She and It, which won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award; and Gone to Soldiers, a New York Times Best Seller, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II. Piercy’s work is rooted in her Jewish heritage, social and political activism, and her feminist ideals. She influenced the Women’s Movement through both her writing and her unconventional life.
