the republic of innocence, a poem . . . and your Wednesday Writing Prompt


no mendacity in the natural world, just an
untamed grace in the meditative industry of ants,
in the peaceable company of small creatures
going about the business of food finding
and mating and homemaking in the loam of
this province, the republic of innocence

here is the satisfying beauty of sunrise, of
jacaranda as she paints joy on a blue dawn;
robin with russet-hued breast hunts for worms,
her instinctive motherhood proud of babies
 in
the spar and scrap of nest life; it is in this,
the guileless cosmosthat gentle breezes

dance with us on muddy travels down
rocky paths through meadow and brush;
as the flaxen sun shifts from rise to fall,
we pulse with love and fear, soon
we know, clouds will gray with the dark

the golden moon will show craggy depths
sooty with doubt and danger, humanity
projecting its own shadows; still, a certain
trust in nature’s homilies, content in this
province where we’re left to be ourselves, left
to write our wildness on the mirror of time

© 2018, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved

“How near to good is what is wild.” Henry David Thoreau


WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

Tell us how near to good and honest is that which is untamed in ourselves. Leave your poem or a link to it in the comments section below.  All poems shared on theme will be published next Tuesday. You have until Monday 8:30 pm to respond.  If it is your first time responding to a writing prompt here, please send a brief bio and photo to thepoetbyday@gmail.com.  It will be featured along with your poem/s by way of introduction to readers … and me! 🙂


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