2 poems about consciousness assigned


anthropons

we talk to things
don’t we
our cars
that
if we’re at it
we should praise as well
as curse

I was talking at the ceramic
chickens
some
minutes ago
making sure I would say something to
the roster for
the sake of the hen

and
then there are the Milnes
who watched
to see how Christopher would
react when given
toys

talking to ourselves
I guess
though I think there’s more

an innate
wanting to believe
to have an audience
to have them
by
some listening in the cosmos
hear us
and
respond especially in the way
we’d like

which the mis-anthropons
among us
if there are
won’t engage
or
not nearly enough


to the animals who love us
(if they do)

why did the dog
save
the soldier
how did it know
serving
as a mascot
only

how to do that

and the cats who wake us
to our faces
when
the house afire

then the humpback whale who
journeys back
to visit with the human
specialist
and rapport-provider

as the mammal can and
may
every year

while
this all might be
mammalian

furred creatures breathing oxygen
who
know
each other by degrees

leaving fish
and arthropods
to fend
while we might
get
to know each other


c l couch


photo by Zach Lezniewicz on Unsplash