Sometimes you just have to shake your head
and see what falls out
and sometimes we have to shake the world
for the same reasons.
Sometimes,
what falls out is a diamond;
rare and precious,
gleaming in the light.
Sometimes what falls out,
is a snake;
a little green tree snake,
highly venomous
and quick…
… so quick.
Every now and then,
something shakes loose
that we cannot identify.
We shake the world
and shake our heads
and out it comes.
It hits the table with a wet “Thud”
and we stare at it
for a long time,
in silence.
Is it a lump of clay?
Or a pile of shit?
Is it meant to be formed?
Or is it already complete?
“I think I see a face on one side!”
“No you don’t! Don’t be an idiot!”
It goes on like this for a while.
Heated debate and conjecture
about whether it is the result of
weak environmental policies,
lax immigration laws,
or just an underfunded mental health program,
when really,
we’re just doing our best
to avoid touching it.
We shook things up
to see what would happen
and when the thing happened
we didn’t know what to do about it,
so we tried to ignore it.
We passed it off.
We blamed everyone but ourselves,
when what we really needed to do
is pick it up.
Sometimes,
the formless lump is clay,
waiting to be formed.
Sometimes,
it is treasure,
covered in years of dirt
that often cake the long forgotten past.
Sometimes,
it is really just a piece of shit.
But we know what to do with shit;
we flush it.
And wash our hands.
Twice.
Gloves might be a good idea.
Then we move on.
The world is full of shit.
In fact,
it is the thing we are as likely to encounter,
as when shake the world
and shake our heads
to see what falls out.
It is only on rare
and special occasions
that we find clay to mold,
or long forgotten treasures.
They are in there,
but sometimes,
in order to find them,
we have to deal with a lot of shit first.
Now where’s that snake…
HG – 2016
