Who would be a turtle who could help it?
A barely mobile hard roll, a four-oared helmet,
she can ill afford the chances she must take
in rowing toward the grasses that she eats.
Her track is graceless, like dragging
a packing-case places, and almost any slope
defeats her modest hopes.
Even being practical,
she's often stuck up to the axle on her way
to something edible. With everything optimal,
she skirts the ditch which would convert
her shell into a serving dish. She lives
below her luck-level, never imagining some lottery
will change her load of pottery to wings.
Her only levity is patience,
the sport of truly chastened things.
~ Kay Ryan from Flamingo Watching © 1994
6 comments:
"Her only levity is patience". I like that line. Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
I can relate to turtles:)
I love the way they turtle along
bravely while the rush sweeps past
and still, on they go:)
Something kind of noble about that.
I love that line about patience;)
-Jennifer
Oh thats great! the patience line is perfect. I can relate. Hope that cold bypassed you. I am feeling better:)
Oh thats great! the patience line is perfect. I can relate. Hope that cold bypassed you. I am feeling better:)
It seems your other comments are touched by the same line "Her only levity is patience". Isn't life like that somedays? And then I am thinking of the turtles I saw in Hawaii that just frolicked in the waves diving and surfing to their hearts delights!
Ugh! Patience . . . not my strong suit. :)
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