circles around me

expressions of an intimate ecology 1

whatever impression we make

whatever mark or intervention into the world

that we add or subtract from our immediate environment

in the grand scheme of things

it is merely a pin prick

a rudimentary breath of life, in and out,

a statement of our own nature

a purposeful manifestation of our own individual spirit

our essence in relation with all

we pick up matter along the way and cast it aside as we process it

as we use it, enjoy it, ingest, digest and excrete it

sometimes affecting us deeply

and other times hardly touching the sides

 circles in the sand, northam (p ward 2013)

i was recently informed by a most learned colleague

referring to a prehistoric trace of worm movement in a sample of carboniferous mudstone

that all our actions may be divided into three basic categories:

to procreate

to feed

and to escape

how true this is i have not yet had time to process

but it does beg me to wonder “so what is art?!”

and further, for example, “what are politics and science and faith?!”

into what category may such cultural realizations, exploratory or not, fall?

may our fundamental actions be likened to that of a most simple invertebrate

or do we really embody, within our large brained bipedal opposing-thumb-ness, something more?

more power perhaps

more understanding or more rights to annihilate and create?

and do we really have it in us to make amends

to unravel and undo the complexity

of our previously, largely subconscious, peripheral interference in this earthly dynamic?

for one i fear not

so as i draw giddy circles in the sand

or piece one word against another word most joyfully

expressing myself within this intimate ecology that we share,

i may only ponder what my true intentions are…

am i prancing like a peacock, all full and feathery, to ultimately impress some mate or other?

or aiming to provide nutrition of some kind, putting bread upon the table for myself (or not)?

or am i more reasonably aiming to find another world beyond this everyday world

this world of miraculous mistakes?

P Ward 2013