[
Instinct
It’s amazing how when a word is selected for the week, how our poetry arrives.
Sometimes… it doesn’t arrive at all! And that’s OK, as this is not about forcing something, when it doesn’t feel right.
Personally I felt this week I’d be swarmed with directions to take, and yet… nothing arrived til the last hour (so to speak).
Once again, beautiful expression and lots of memories, perspectives, stories, metaphors and powerful messages popping up within the context of the poems.
As we have found each week, the topics expand our understanding and perspectives and enrich us in so many ways.
This week the discussion around how we have evolved; and nature or nurture got a mention.
The power of expression.
Instinct
Instinct
With eyes so yearning
I pat your fur
It started with a smile
Next moment it was all a blur
I felt numb at first
Then came the screams
Then the blood
Doctors, stitches, bandages in reams
Alsatian in the corner
He was hurting,
‘He didn’t mean to do it’
I recall retorting
They said something triggered him
Didn’t know what,
It was like he knew,
I shouldn’t be in his lot.
Something deep within
Activated his reaction
Leaving me with a fear
Affecting my doggy interactions
‘Put him down’ they said,
Caused me much grief,
Retribution doesn’t
Bring me relief
And how do we dare,
When we train to refrain
‘Diamonti’ collar, the shame
Then look to blame
Humanising pets
that we love to the core,
But instinct tells me,
Instinct you can’t ignore
TLaB 23rd January 22
Recipe
What a beautiful morning, I felt so alive
I was sitting on my balcony, my outside room
The tree before me had come into bloom
Soon birds and bees will begin to arrive
Seeking nectar the flowers provide
The cycle of creation before my very eyes
Showing me their instinct drive, and to my surprise
My thoughts on my human instincts started to collide
My mind began to pursue conflicting reasons
So I returned inside so as not to be distracted
To consider how Mother Nature has adapted
To install behaviour through the seasons
I take down my recipe book of unseen things
To try and discover how I can discern
How to understand this concept and learn
The ingredients for making instinct meanings
First of all I had to look for a clue
So I find the index for the words history
It revealed the words past was based on a mystery
How did animals when born know what to do?
Observers’ curiosity and observations
Examining inspecting regarding the subjects actions
Even exploring the creatures reactions
Recoding the animals faculty of intuitive perceptions
This in turn led me to some other references
One where humans began looking at themselves
To discover what instincts were living in our cells
Different theories clashed and fought for their preferences
I put the recipe book away
And set about to grill an instinct
Added some spicy words to convey
The taste of impulse along the way
When it was cooked to perfection
Words between the words congealed
With meaning between the meanings sealed
I sat down and consumed my selection
Fully sated I leant back and considered
The ramifications of my consumption
What was the purpose and function?
That the word instinct had delivered
Very little it appears to me
For in todays’ world it’s the temptation
To label: hardwired, genetic and innate as our sensation
That explains our reactions for all to see
Some say it’s an inborn propensity
Others say it’s being independent of experience
Or for survival and reproduction of our species
Passed on, inherent, genetically.
Whatever in the recipe that is the answer,
Why is it that I’m such an awful dancer?
PJR 24.01.2022
My instinct
I felt something
A foreboding
Don’t go in there
Danger!!
What was that?
I am in the supermarket
Looking at the shelves
I see an item
Get it! get it! something yells
What was that?
I see someone begging
Move on, ignore him I hear
I crouch down to speak
In the eye I see a tear
What was that?
Is that my instinct
That I feel inside?
A sixth sense
That tells me when to hide
That warns me of danger
And when to take that leap
To go past the judgment
To dive into the deep
The judgement comes from somewhere else
That shouts busily from behind
It seems very conditioned…
It’s coming from my mind!
I am learning how to tell
From where the inner voice comes
And know to listen well
When it is my heart that hums
(NRS)
Instinct
It’s good if you can follow your gut or instinct,
Saturday week ago, I woke early (4:15am) not feeling very well.
Made it to the family room where I have a Blood Pressure machine.
Taking my blood pressure, the reading was 196/76.
Sunday morning, I woke at 5:50am feeling as though
the house was sitting on my head,
feet and legs swollen and sort
and eyes were aching.
Breathing- well the wheeziness,
is there but not really concerned.
I get asthma from time to time.
Blood Pressure 206.
My instinct is on alert.
Now what to do,
I already wear a medi-alert,
Do I press the button or what?
If I alert an ambulance,
it could take a couple of hours,
If and when they come, and go to hospital,
I would sit amongst sick people and
NO, NO, that’s not happening.
What with staff shortages, the pressure of waiting,
didn’t want that to happen.
Come Monday morning the blood pressure was 217.
Now it’s time to take action.
Phoned the clinic
Hoping to get an appointment
Which I did.
The reason was…my tablets,
So I now have everything under control,
Thank goodness.
So have a good medical plan at hand
Trust your INSTINCT plus your gut feeling,
Don’t panic and go with the flow.
LMol