Today's dual prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write an "abundance" poem, and (2) "Write a poem that argues against, or somehow questions, a proverb or saying." I'm not sure if it's because these prompts didn't really speak to me today, or maybe it's other things on my mind. (I had a car accident this morning - I'm ookay, but the caris a mess.) Anyway, I took a phrase rather than a saying or proverb and just mused on it a bit, it's meaning and semantics. Here's the result:
Abundance of
Caution
We've
heard about that a lot lately,
all the steps we take out of
an "abundance of caution."
It seems almost an oxymoron―
when
did caution ever yield
abundance? On the other hand,
is caution really something we
could ever have in abundance?
Maybe
we just need a different phrase:
a "plethora of preparedness,"
a "cornucopia of carefulness,"
a "surplus of circumspection."
No, none of those work.
Caution
seems to run a spectrum
from sheer recklessness
to paralyzing inactivity.
We need just enough caution,
I think, to avoid the consequences
we don't wish to come up against.
But
what if an abundance causes us
to have leftover caution?
Can we bank it for the next crisis,
or if we come up short,
can we borrow caution from someone
who never takes a risk?
I
think it's abundantly clear
that we can't throw caution to the wind,
but we can't hoard it either,
unless we aspire to a very boring life.
all the steps we take out of
an "abundance of caution."
It seems almost an oxymoron―
abundance? On the other hand,
is caution really something we
could ever have in abundance?
a "plethora of preparedness,"
a "cornucopia of carefulness,"
a "surplus of circumspection."
No, none of those work.
from sheer recklessness
to paralyzing inactivity.
We need just enough caution,
I think, to avoid the consequences
we don't wish to come up against.
to have leftover caution?
Can we bank it for the next crisis,
or if we come up short,
can we borrow caution from someone
who never takes a risk?
that we can't throw caution to the wind,
but we can't hoard it either,
unless we aspire to a very boring life.
1 comment:
Bruce, one can throw caution to the wind, but the wind throws it right back! Good poem; I like the meditational, musing flavor of it. Hey, I wrote just above you in the NaPoWriMo peanut gallery just now. I referred to you in my comment!
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