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Becky's avatar

I came across this poem!!!

Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It’s a Sewer Rat

by Caitlin Seida

Hope is not the thing with feathers

That comes home to roost

When you need it most.

Hope is an ugly thing

With teeth and claws and

Patchy fur that’s seen some shit.

It’s what thrives in the discards

And survives in the ugliest parts of our world,

Able to find a way to go on

When nothing else can even find a way in.

It’s the gritty, nasty little carrier of such

diseases as

optimism, persistence,

Perseverance and joy,

Transmissible as it drags its tail across

your path

and

bites you in the ass.

Hope is not some delicate, beautiful bird,

Emily.

It’s a lowly little sewer rat

That snorts pesticides like they were

Lines of coke and still

Shows up on time to work the next day

Looking no worse for wear.

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Eric Clow's avatar

What an awesome poem. I love Caitlin's take on hope! Thanks much for sharing, Becky!

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Teresa Marks's avatar

Thanks so much, Eric. What an eloquent guideline for maintaining personal peace while staying engaged. It's a balancing act for sure. Just seems like some days, it's a balancing act in the circus. Hey, remember George Carlin said something like "When you're born, it's like you've been given a ticket to the circus and if you were born in the USA, it's a front row seat. 😉

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Eric Clow's avatar

Thanks, Teresa. Yes, it is definitely a balancing act to stay engaged while maintaining our health. It may seem like we have to choose one or the other, but the reality is that we can't make meaningful changes if we don't first have our health.

A circus is a great metaphor for our current environment! I also entertain the notion that we are living in a simulation. Certainly a sense of humor helps!

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Celeste Treadway's avatar

Thank you for this Eric! I've been finding brief periods of respite from catastrophic thinking/"awfulizing" by enjoying our birds, but I'd just been seeing it as a way to bring myself (mind and body) back into the present--wasn't really attaching "hope" to it. Love your perspective!

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Eric Clow's avatar

Thanks so much, Celeste! I think birds do both. They re-ground us in the present moment, reconnect us with gratitude and wonder, re-instill a sense of hope. These are all things we are going to need to survive and thrive in the next four years and still be useful to our friends and family and community.

I love the term "awfulizing" by the way. It so perfectly encapsulates how millions of us are feeling right now! I also like "doom-scrolling." But, like you, I am trying my best not to stew too long in these states of mind.

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Susan Parker's avatar

I find joy in being with my dog Bailey. I made a promise to Bailey and myself when DJT won the election to take Bailey for a walk at the local State Park everyday come rain or shine. Our walks are good exercise, the nature in the park especially the birds occupy my attention for an hour. Bailey loves greeting others, no one can argue with his friendly demeanor. Even the occasional rain storm has its beauty. Planning a Women’s March for January 18th- “Building Our Feminist Future!”

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Eric Clow's avatar

Thanks, Mom. I am glad you are finding sources of joy in this political climate. Dogs, and walks in nature, are potent balms for troubled times!

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