put an egg on your table//if it doesn’t shake you may be safe or–

Posted on by claudia

“the world’s not round!!”
they shout
“it’s flat ///it’s flat!!”

underneath each land a pillar/stream/walls/dark canals
to stabiliZe
so that the shell won’t crack
like columbus’ egg
(oh just–to make a point)

the wind blows
east to west//south//north
his bag brings smog, a bug, worm, flood
(from china? north pole? africa?)
“nah– the crisis in the ukraine won’t affect us”
sky’s

a giant calculator, clouds
on threads and grim-faced marionettes
spLasH huge-feet in the ocean

& their pups, dripping wet juMp
continent to continent//shake furry heads
america?
no, india
what about the soviets?

and columbus puts his egg
(very calmly)
upright on the table
“cheers” they say &
“everyone// can–”
picture that

“the earth is flat//the earth is flat!!”
they shout in a silly round dance
til the corners of the world roll wet-eyed on the table

& Columbus laughs
& laughs
& laughs

.

björn has us do poetic journalism for dVerse today… so grab a newspaper and write a statement poem…a brief comment in simple poetic form, using humor or irony…mine was written after reading an article about the ukraine crisis – how some say it won’t affect us – others provide facts and figures that i will affect us worldwide (& i def. think it will and hope that things calm down quickly)

i’m still in paris, getting back home tonite and will need a bit time to catch up…

44 responses to “put an egg on your table//if it doesn’t shake you may be safe or–”

  1. I never thought of Columbus ever laughing. Some might say, “What happens in Ukraine, stays in Ukraine.” The world doesn’t function like that, not anymore. Global means global, and that’s no yolk! The proverbial flapping of a butterfly wing does have its affect, even if we don’t know from where the baby breeze was born. Cheers C!

  2. I would agree.. the unconcerned folly on Ukraine is a lot the same as saying that the word is flat. Today the world is rounder than ever… I’m also very concerned about Ukraine.. (it’s so close to us…)..

  5. how inconvenient Ukraine is for all the leaders – and all the promises that were made just a decade or so ago – well surely those people understand.

  6. Oh, good topic. The crisis in Ukraine is near and dear because my parents have spent so much time there doing teaching trips with ISP (International School Project) and have so many close friends. We are following it closely, and have a lot more first hand details the media is not sharing. All I can really say is PRAY. Such a sad time for such a wonderful country full of friendly, giving people.

    Your comparison about how it won’t affect us and the world being flat is nothing short of brilliant.

    Safe trip home from Paris. Good luck on catching up…I find that so hard to do…
    Tina @ Life is Good

  7. every year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second, the world shrinks. Partially because we unearth knowledge such as the earth is round giving us more avenues to travel from one land to another and more so that we now find new ways to to make the distance between us smaller. We are as interconnected as the waterways around the world, where a dam can only hold back so much before it spills out into the surrounding neighborhoods.

    sorry for the ramble. this is a striking piece.

  9. the story of columbus’ egg is really cool…i did not know it before, but what is imposible is often overcome with a change of perspective like that….and we can deny it all we want but that does not make it any less true…or less scary as well…keeping my eye on it…

  10. I like your metaphoric writing here, Claudia. Though I am a long way from the Ukraine, I fear this crisis will affect the whole world. I hope to be proven wrong. Columbus wasn’t. Hope you enjoyed your time in Paris….

  12. Very apt poem, Claudia! I guess Columbus’ laugh is a smirk rather than a genuine laugh. As much as I’d like Putin to put an end to his expansionist ambitions, I have a nasty feeling he won’t.

  14. I agree…this is not something happening in a box…ripples and shakes will definitely be felt by those of us not right at the center. Cool the way you did this. I hope for peaceful resolve too…

  16. Those who refuse to learn from history shall have egg on their face, & will have to relive it in all its infamy; Putin, like Stalin, is an empire builder; not a good portent for peace; a clever use of the prompt, more truth than folly, by golly.

  18. O! I remember Columbus’ great trick with his egg that should have been hard-boiled! An American Idiom applies: “Here’s egg on your face!” it’s so painful to be close to–if we’re lucky–another cold war–not a hot one. Hurts so much we have to laugh or cry. (Good to see you, Claudia)

  25. actually, if the Ukraine crisis doesn’t affect us…it shows a lack of caring on our part. I, too, hope that things settle down there quickly!

  26. Flat-earthers we are – never believing the earth is round enough to touch us. Touch is it should as did your excellent verse.
    Anna :o]

  27. yes, look where we have come….now even our thinking is archaic in many ways when it comes to all the unanswered questions yet out there…funny, Cristoval’, his given name was believed to be Italian but I could be wrong

  33. Look at it another way: the surface between the wickets on a cricket pitch is flat; if you put a lot of them end to end, you can disprove the curvature of the earth, as at any place along the series, you are standing on a flat surface.

    Look at it yet another way: a point is without surface, so is neither flat nor round; at any point on the earth it is neither flat nor round.

  36. Nice smile on my face as I read the title, sitting here at my computer with two eggs on the table, just brought in from my hens… You have captured something that continually amazes me about modern times- in spite of having practically any information at our fingertips through the world wide web, too many people still hold outdated beliefs.

  37. As always, your poems never leave me indifferent!

    It’s indeed so easy to stay close-minded and discard crisis that goes around us even though we are a part of it all. Your message is a truthful and profound.

  41. Great write ..to some the earth may appear flat but it is circular and we all spin on it’s axis..hope events turn around for the better..

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