Granted,
Granted,
even progress
must progress
must rise from ash
as each city has its fire
and somewhere city-center
a light pole marked
a World’s Fair boasting
spectacle and next.
First, there was a bush, burning,
it told us it was burning.
Then there was a world, burning,
it told us it was burning.
Voices of clay say
enough and plenty.
Dry-mouthed concrete
hulks splendor, tempting.
“Can you believe
everything is free?”
Walk in, walk out
— Chicago Zoo
or make-believe.
This poem is sort of in conversation with this one and this one which are attempts to grapple with the idea of growth and progress. To what end? Lately, I’m hearing more and more about alternative views of economics and modelings of ‘enough’ (i.e doughnut economics) which are making me think.
The title has a few different meanings within the world of the poem - taking things as they are, assuming ownership, etc.
If you’ve never been to the Chicago Zoo, it’s free and you’ll just be walking around Lake Washington and suddenly find yourself in the reptile house. Wild.
I actually wrote a part of this poem in 2015, but I went back and rewrote it this week. There were a few things I liked about it, but it wasn’t fully realized quite yet. Here’s the 2015 version:
I’m part of Chicago
I don’t mean progress or
on some cusp
but on fire—even the lake
and somewhere city-center
I’m melded to a lightpole
that was the World’s Fair.
Thanks for reading.