The Booby Prize
by
Rebecca del Rio
My friend Jana tells me "knowing
Is the Booby Prize."
Once known the answer ossifies into Certainty.
Can we know Life
Without wanting
To trap it, cage it?
The heart’s rhythm arrives -
Constant waves carrying
The rich soup of the soul.
Each wave, each beat, its own universe
Each one its own gift, its necessary
Step in Creation’s dance.
We, who are frozen in ideas
And answers
Crave change, but belief
Blocks Life’s insistent responses.
Has our terrible
Demand for certainty caused
This chaos, this burning planet?
Is our home dying to free herself from
Our Absolute Knowing?
Every day our only habitat baptizes us
In Fire, winds and floods.
Every moment our planet pleads and punishes.
Her heart breaks, whispers, “Listen. If you must be sure:
Be certain of Change.
Cherish Wind, Water, Air, Love all your living Companions. Here are
The only gods, the one
Absolute you need.”