Two Poems by V. Bray
Based on the theme of “Housekeeping.” (The line lengths of these poems make them best read on a desktop)
Saviors
My Buddhist friend collects the ants in her kitchen,
attracting them into a bucket of sugared cereal,
then setting them free in her garden.
She wonders why people are unable to follow directions:
Styrofoam™ is not recyclable
neither are plastic straws
depending on your town, 4s and 5s may not be.
She writes a letter to the environmental board.
People say there is no time to sort, rinse, and place items into the proper bins.
It is someone else’s problem to sort it all out, to sort our trash
shipped and scattered across the globe
while we have time
to mow our lawns
scroll through social media feeds
go to soccer practice.
The director of recycling writes my friend back.
“It’s all about education.”
I pick the trash off the beach:
tampon applicators
small liquor bottles
plastic bags with a few chips left at the bottom.
I wonder if responsibility can be taught or if
you have to be born a savior.Imposition
My samsara* sits in a cage in loud bursts meowing and begging to be fed. This feral cat scratches and hisses and arches her back in pain and in fear. With gloved hands I approach with intention to tame, acknowledge the torment I continually impose. *Samsara is considered to be dukkha (suffering) and, in general, unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma.
I’m currently reading through all of Annie Ernaux’s works and writing a new series of poems exploring the divine feminine. My website is authorvbray.com.