He walks alone through the hush of morning,
dew balancing like prayers on blades of grass.
above him, a red kite wheels as geometry drawn
and for a moment,he forgets what we’ve done.
the earth is still kind,still spills blossom from trees
we’ve maimed all that is good with our distain
let rivers write sermons through concrete and spillage.
yet even now,she forgives us, the mother can be kind.
As he stands beneath a birch that grows despite the plastic
coiled at its roots his hand touches the bark there’s warmth.
Its life refusing to retreat from it greatest enemy homoerectus
the weight and menace of opposable thumbs.
So many ways to convey one's intentions -
word choices, actions, intonations -
what do I project?
Others have their own perceptions,
leading to unfortunate misconceptions
as, on me, they too, project.
Human communication is so hard.
What to take to heart, what to discard?
Who knows?
What do you think it would mean,
do you think it is obscene,
as I take off my clothes?
The only reason you see me in my skin
is that I am gladly trading in
my humanity.
No more voice box, brain case, opposable thumbs -
I'm joining with my animal chums.
Goodbye, insanity!
Once, sat and thought, a hairy brute,
wearing not, a well-tailored suit.
In grunts and growls, he said, "I suppose,
if thumb and fingers should oppose,
it would not be so very dumb",
and patented the opposable thumb.
The Dodo, it’s curious
Lived down in Mauritius
A bit east of Madagascar,
You can’t get there with your car.
It’s an island, and it’s quite remote
But you wouldn’t need an overcoat
You won’t get there with your time machine
Unless your machine floats.
Right off the Indian continent,
If a Dodo was incontinent
What would he wear not to spill content?
Well, that just Depends…
‘Cuz how would they pull them up,
Or change them when they’re full up?
A question supposable
When they haven’t the opposable.
A question pretty clumsy
And I'm just all thumbsy
And it doesn't matter, 'cuz they're all extinct,
I just know that it stinks.
There’s one thing I’m sure I know
If I had a pet Dodo
I might call him Bilbo
But more likely it would be Frodo
And I’d have me a hobbit hole
For all of those Depends, you know
And that's where all the dirties go,
And I’d call it Bag End.
H/T to Terry Flood’s Do Dodos Do Doo Doos
A concept very hard to grasp:
Remove a thought the mind has clasped.
And though we struggle, though we try
We won’t pick up the reason why.
It’s right there, right within our grip,
Yet tightening, our fingers slip.
We cannot free ourselves of thought
Ensnared within the neurons, caught.
By this, our efforts are undone:
Our brains, one-way, opposable thumbs.
Watched myself turn into a red kangaroo
Spontaneous shape shifter – what could I do?
I tried to yell but my words were garbled and few.
Got chased out of the house by my first husband too.
At a dirty window spied my neighbor strange Sue.
She screamed before I had time to even say boo.
Tried to write a note but it was something I could not do.
No opposable thumbs when you’re a red kangaroo.
If given we are told and lead
to believe
That no 2 people not even
identical twins
Are the same
Then why on earth could
anyone think we are bound
to get along
And in any way be somehow
shocked we can not even
agree on the simplest most
important issues
Such as respecting a difference
of opinion without it descending
into violence and recriminations
I often think given we we're are
the only species gifted with the
gift of speech opposable thumbs
and fingers
Then how when it comes to conflict
resolution we lead with fingers pressing
triggers not our brain to have the
final say on proceedings
Rather than use the power of speech
to save countless lives from enduring
the insanity of war
And grieving aftermath that ensures
Other than that we have been
taught and learned nothing
from history
Apart from the fact that the
sword is the chosen weapon
of choice and mightier than
the word
Takes the form of a human,
an animal lies beneath
for what are we anyway
escapologists from the trees
Maybe we’re special, intelligent,
if still a little dumb
outgrown that inbred purpose
to breed and thrive
Humans need satisfaction,
a journey, fantasies and thrills
Always just beneath a willingness to kill
Content, we are under control
happiness is to be free
adrenaline keeps us awake and alert
My god they’re all chemical signals,
highs and lows passion, depression,
just imbalances of the mind
The illusion we’re so much more
is insane, and true
It’s forbidden to overtake evolution
but we did yesteryear
exceeding the laws of nature,
left the animals behind
So what now,
we’ve outgrown natural selection
one small step was never our threshold
next the forbidden one giant leap
Perhaps we don’t see it coming,
inexorable and inevitable as it is
We’ll never stop, never be satiated
we only ever had one goal
to become god.
By David Kavanagh
Writing a poem with only my thumbs
Opposable digits are A-number one
Will autocorrect fix the words I write wrong?
Not all words are lucky as I coax them along
My phone keyboard clicking as I’m typing the words
Now back to correct my fast-thumb-spelling turds
How long can I go with these poor thumbs of mine?
Most likely for hours, they’re typing sublime-ly
For they are the only thing in-shape on me
Covid has made my waist grow large times three!
For my thumbs are as sleek as an antelope
Compared to my waist, more a cantaloupe
The rhyme meter changed like an isotope
A variant bridge like a song I wrote
But back to the meter my thumbs they did strive
Worried I might go along for a drive
Now I will end this, my thumb-written poem
And hope you enjoyed it since it isn’t a tome
--All my writings are at mraymus.medium.com
The first dictator used his opposable thumbs,
to break the thumbs of those who opposed him.
my world
has been
turned up
side down
no
no tragedy
befalls me
i'm just at
the park
on the monkey
bars hanging
by my legs
monkeying
around
trying to
decide
if i should
climb to
higher
ground
to see
if i can
see past
there
where
the sun
sinks in
the evening
and even
further
for if
i can
use my
useful
opposable
thumb and
finger to
open
the latch
of your
window
to see
that your
sunrisa
really is
the
sun
set
A clover’s lucky leaf,
in Contract Bridge a table,
ia playgroup of two couples, usually of opposite gender
with riches an auspicious fold,
second in a power series based on two,
the sum of non-opposable digits on a hand,
in religion one past trinity
and half the lines in this ramble.
2/12/2020
Locomotion to location,
destination unspoken, unsought.
But you knew,
who knew.
Beneath the opposable
with benefits, a mock assurance.
Finally exposed
beneath a wing.
She is harbinger and harvester,
gnawing, undermining a foundation.
Her self belief
deathly evident.
An induced epiphany
with drip-feed stealth coercion.
Now self aware
to purchase life.
In permanent daylight
he assumes solar nourishment.
No longer frantic.
Why…..why…..must it be so hard??
Would that I had antlers
to woo the docile doe
lock in mock battle
of tree bark as foe.
Perhaps fine tail feathers
to spread in an arc
dance without castanets
from dawn until dark,
A wondrous scent
to slowly unfurl
sweet scented pheromones
to make her hair curl.
Maybe a chatter,
a click or a roar
to lead the sweet vixen
straight to my door.
Alas, being human
with opposable thumbs
I gaze at the screen
go droolingly dumb
fumble with texting,
tweets, and hash tags
fearful these beauties
might just be….. old hags.
John G. Lawless
11/22/2015
Cat Crimes and Misdemeanors
Five cats came into town in a 57 Chevy
To rob Bank of America with AK-47s
They blew in through the doors with a meow
Demanded attention…now!
No one would pet them
Patrons cringed in fear and fell
This was no ordinary crime
All five were charged with trespassing among other things
And that was just the beginning
Detectives figured out quite quickly
Cats don’t drive old cars, especially kitties
Who have no licenses or opposable thumbs
So they could not pull the triggers
Old widow, Mrs. Peabody, the driver of the Chevy
Took her kittens with her for the drive
A deposit, the only thing on her mind
Thank God it was not a capital or high crime
But she and the cats were fined
Charged with misdemeanors
As for the AK-47s
They were toys strapped to their sides for fun
Cats only meow. They don’t shoot guns
They don't commit crimes
That is, not at this time
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