Marilyn Singer - Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

 

 

We were talking disasters

 

          scaring ourselves

 

                     with what on earth would scare us

 

Volcanoes venting red-hot rivers

 

                              spumes of ash

 

          like barbecues gone crazy

 

Earthquakes that crack the world

 

          like a walnut

 

Sandstorms that suffocate

 

Tidal waves that drown

 

          Hurricanes, tornadoes

 

             avalanches, floods

 

And blizzards

 

          simple blizzards—

 

that frightened me the most

 

          trapping me right there in my house

 

                     with nothing to eat

 

          but my shoes

 

We were talking disasters

 

          feeling the earth go wobbly

 

                 leaving ourselves

 

                     with no place to hide

 

Until right outside my window

 

          a robin chirruped loudly

 

                     in the hickory tree

 

like nothing on earth mattered

 

          but its song

 

And suddenly the room righted itself

 

                         the floor held steady

 

and we knew that we were safe

 

          for at least another day


©Marilyn Singer. All rights reserved. 


One of the great things about a poem is that it can feel timely or appropriate or resonant at all sorts of different moments. The above poem is actually from the book Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth which came out in 2002 but it feels spot on to the moment to me. While Footprints is sadly out of print,  you can find all sorts of other Marilyn Singer goodies out there including her recent Follow the Recipe: Poems about Imagination, Celebration, and Cake and Wild in the Streets.  And I predict you'll be glad you did.