Captive
There is a lot we don’t know. Now more than ever, we are aware of uncertainty about how the body and its predators work. But some things are certain. Actress and poet Judy Prescott demonstrates this reassuring truth in her poem “Captive.”
Thank you Dr. Michael Stern for sending this poem.
Captive
by Judy Prescott
I know that certain lichen,
celadon, crispy, white-bellied…
still cling to safe,
sure hosts.
I know that seals still lollop
on distant bell-buoys,
rocked to sleep by crude,
steady tolling.
I know that a weather-worn bench
fashioned from a fallen tree
still looks out across the channel
where salt-sprayed ferries pass.
I know of a wandering path layered mute
with pine needles
hiding knobbly, woody roots…
ready to surprise.
I know that here, where I sit,
I am tethered to it all…
this regenerative earth…
profoundly knowing, promisingly clear.
