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Life Arts    H4'ed 8/16/19

The smiling turtle

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Gary Lindorff
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Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
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The smiling turtle looks like he's
About to break into a laugh He's been
Waiting a long time for the punch-line

I am not smiling
My mirror has misted up
I feel the closeness of the swamp

I think we are sinking
Into the muck of our business
We have to call off the meeting

We have to rethink our mission statement
Count off by fours Form work-groups
Shout out the names of trouble and

Make peace with the gravity
Of our situation Admit
That things aren't going as planned

I have no ID for this I'm not
Going to pass I'm
Freaking out I need a powerful talisman

Too late for a hybrid
Will the electric car save us?
Will the great wall stand against the tide?

We should have this whole thing under control
By 2025 Will someone just get that
Little sinking country off my back?

I'm trying to be a good nobody
I'm trying to remember
How to make an organic sandwich

I'm trying to remember my name
But I'm too close to the truth And
When you get this close to anything

It disintegrates into subatomic stuff
And I'm just saying This is freaky
My Mama never prepared me for this

She loved to sing Oklahoma, when the wind
Comes sweeping down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet

When the wind comes right behind the rain. . .
My mother would be lost here
Her eyes would ask, where are we?

I don't know where this is, Mom The only
Signs that make sense are the ones
Too far away to read Signs of change

(Article changed on August 16, 2019 at 21:11)

(Article changed on August 16, 2019 at 21:13)

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Gary Lindorff is a poet, writer, blogger and author of five nonfiction books, three collections of poetry, "Children to the Mountain", "The Last recurrent Dream" (Two Plum Press), "Conversations with Poetry (coauthored with Tom Cowan), and (more...)
 

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