7.6 Emergency Prudence

EMERGENCY PRUDENCE

by Eric Chaet

I struggle upstream
push a rock up a mountain
against an avalanche
of obsolete machinery
& promises
implied or even guaranteed
by those collecting pay
for acting as tho
they had already perfected
providing
what I offer to attempt to provide.

I deflect as best I can
& scan for portents, understanding
& whatever might be useful
of what they’ve discarded
or could no longer hold—
til the first harvest of the aftermath.

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Picture: USDA Forest Service