we need to pay attention.
so much happens
six miles beneath
our houses
fragile as eggs
with thin shells
balanced on
a teetering shelf
nothing is certain.
even toads know
where we stand
is not solid
amphibians taste the shudder
of tectonic plates
on their skin, the stress
& fracture of deep rock
before it slips across
crystal heated under pressure
snakes leave their holes
in winter & fish rise
days before the hard break
& visceral grind of stone meeting stone;
they are intimate
& close to internal shifts
sensing quickening
the way a mother knows
butterfly dancing
under her navel
before any kicking can be felt
on her skin
there is life
there are movements
underground
as subtle
on our long legs
with heads balanced
on these necks,
our ears tuned to the air
not pressed to the soil, listening
we need needles
jumping across paper
to tell us
what fish already know.
we need to listen deeper.
Susan Daniels Poetry 
One message – abandon the attitude to domesticate, colonise and exploit the earth; rather learn to listen to her, to feel her and to respect her – we will be happier if we did
Yes–that’s it. Sad that the supposedly “lower animals” know more about what’s going on than we do.
Sterile lives for nearly all
No dirt unswept
In our tidy boxes
We fight incursions of reality
Close our senses to truth
Unless it’s filtered through
Official sources
That outfox us
Yes. We do this, as unconnected from matter/earth/life as we can be in those boxes. Well said (and you should post this!).
I really like this very much, especially the way you conclude it.
I appreciate how you bring pregnancy into this and merge the knowledge a woman has with the knowledge other animals know, sensing things that we men (mostly, but not exclusively) so often miss.
Oh–wow, I never even thought about that as I wrote it. Kind of a reversal of the usual blah, blah stuff of–women are more connected to nature and therefore inferior/less cerebral than men, etc.–that has been out there for centuries in our western perspective. Thanks for liking this.
Would that we would treat the mysteries of the earth with the same awe and reverence with which we treat our bodies as they transform and hold new life..
Yes–if only we did.
penetrating sadness~xo
Thanks, Deb!
intriguing write were a bit more stable over here
Where I am, we are fairly stable–although we are over a huge inactive (mostly) fault.
The earth and the ground on which we walk is sinking sand! Deep and insightful poem.
Celestine–thank you. If only we listened.