Dear humans, how often/ have you been unknowingly/wrong? For that reason, I never feed wild birds. They don't really need our help. And I don't want my cat to have easy hunting.
Oh yes. In Florida my brother & I liked to toss red-and-black ants in among what we called "bullhead" red ants & hope they'd fight it out. The tiny, vicious fire ants mostly showed up after we'd grown up. We were blithely unaware of violence in the adult world. The war in Korea didn't "count." Even though our Uncle Jim was on B-29s out of Okinawa. We were not terribly perceptive kids
Bam! That's a powerful come-around to the end there. What a good reminder to examine what we are doing in the world, why and with what intentions ... and what the actual results are for ourselves and people around us.
I loved this bit and how you brought it around at the end so succinctly:
Great poem/story...so many layers. What we do as kids (knowingly) to what we do as adults (unknowingly/ignorant) to the nature of it all...awesome Sherman.
When I was a kid we didn't mess with Praying Mantises...there was a neighborhood story that is was illegal to kill them and that they were federally protected!
Wise lesson. It's good to reflect on what we do without the need to judge others, or ourselves. Your poem is a great reminder of how we need to try to better understand the other. And ourselves.
It's a world full of cruelty . It's basically how it works . For the apple , isn't it a cruel thing to being digested . When I walk through a meadow , am I aware of the distruction and soffering of all those beings that I left behind !?..Well the apple does probably not mind , as long his seeds did it . And as for the meadow .... not leaving to much the trail preventing to much cruelty is good enough for me . Although . Thats why a like arid landscapes . No plant gets hurt , when I'm walking by .
It gets even crueler — after mating the female mantis eats the male mantis.
You kind of wonder if our efforts at philosophy, religion, etc., are really the human race (some anyway) trying to lift themselves out of the carnivorous common?
Sadly yes, we are all in it together but maybe the human brain (if not the human heart) can figure out how to get us moving out of "it" so the creepy crawlies have a chance to prey another day. Thank you for stimulating this thread.
That might be but the pet story means that at least some would see us as potential friends and companions if we had the ability to love insects and other crreepy crawlies like young Xander.
I like, "surrounded by the unblessings of adult cruelty." Thank you for pointing out "dual" as in two elements, and "duel" as in a conflict between two. It's so easy for me to not to notice subtle spellings. (Ugh! This English language.) Thank you for another thoughtful reflection.
Dear humans, how often/ have you been unknowingly/wrong? For that reason, I never feed wild birds. They don't really need our help. And I don't want my cat to have easy hunting.
Oh yes. In Florida my brother & I liked to toss red-and-black ants in among what we called "bullhead" red ants & hope they'd fight it out. The tiny, vicious fire ants mostly showed up after we'd grown up. We were blithely unaware of violence in the adult world. The war in Korea didn't "count." Even though our Uncle Jim was on B-29s out of Okinawa. We were not terribly perceptive kids
It was possible in our childhoods to be isolated from the world. I don't think that's the case now.
Bam! That's a powerful come-around to the end there. What a good reminder to examine what we are doing in the world, why and with what intentions ... and what the actual results are for ourselves and people around us.
I loved this bit and how you brought it around at the end so succinctly:
Only later did we
unlearn those violent
lessons (not all of us
learned) but let's not
romanticize mantises.
We're all bait, all of us, for attack by one thing or another.
Truth served cold. Beautiful.
Thank you, Linda.
Great poem/story...so many layers. What we do as kids (knowingly) to what we do as adults (unknowingly/ignorant) to the nature of it all...awesome Sherman.
When I was a kid we didn't mess with Praying Mantises...there was a neighborhood story that is was illegal to kill them and that they were federally protected!
Legally protected mantises! I wonder if that myth was created by a parent who knew what kids can sometimes get into.
LOL...probably! When I was little I thought they were so exotic looking.
Now, seeing videos of those things catching Hummingbirds and then eating them....yikes!
The last stanza and line of this poem carries in it a profound (and chilling) truth…
Thank you, Imola.
Wise lesson. It's good to reflect on what we do without the need to judge others, or ourselves. Your poem is a great reminder of how we need to try to better understand the other. And ourselves.
Great writing, awesome storytelling.
Thank you, Arjan.
Profoundly true. We know not what we do. That’s why we need grace.
Thank you, Kathy.
It's a world full of cruelty . It's basically how it works . For the apple , isn't it a cruel thing to being digested . When I walk through a meadow , am I aware of the distruction and soffering of all those beings that I left behind !?..Well the apple does probably not mind , as long his seeds did it . And as for the meadow .... not leaving to much the trail preventing to much cruelty is good enough for me . Although . Thats why a like arid landscapes . No plant gets hurt , when I'm walking by .
Plenty of our philosophies justify our worst instincts.
Yes to what you see.
It gets even crueler — after mating the female mantis eats the male mantis.
You kind of wonder if our efforts at philosophy, religion, etc., are really the human race (some anyway) trying to lift themselves out of the carnivorous common?
The depth of this.
Thank you.
🙏
Thank you,
Humans do feel they are the superior beings in all ways. ❤️❤️
I think we're all in this mess together.
Sadly yes, we are all in it together but maybe the human brain (if not the human heart) can figure out how to get us moving out of "it" so the creepy crawlies have a chance to prey another day. Thank you for stimulating this thread.
Oh, the insects will absolutely survive. They're more bad-ass than any other living thing.
That might be but the pet story means that at least some would see us as potential friends and companions if we had the ability to love insects and other crreepy crawlies like young Xander.
The love of other creatures in perfectly natural. I love ladybugs! But assigning them human emotions will break our hearts.
I like, "surrounded by the unblessings of adult cruelty." Thank you for pointing out "dual" as in two elements, and "duel" as in a conflict between two. It's so easy for me to not to notice subtle spellings. (Ugh! This English language.) Thank you for another thoughtful reflection.
Thank you, Mary.