I heard David Attenborough on the TV –
Says the planet needs diversity.
Multiplicity, complexity, plurality of form
Makes the norm
For the ecosphere,
It seems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
They are 11 when it starts. Too early, too scary.
The body that had held them, played with them, had fun with them
Begins to
Betray them.
Changing shape, strange hairs; they
Don’t know themselves any more.
The adults notice, make comments.
It’s as if they’ve become hyper-visible –
To themself, too.
They look in the mirror.
Horrified, terrified, realised
Where this is heading.
No way to stop it?
Gym! Change the shape, sculpt the body!
People lie.
Gym can’t sculpt the body.
Not as far as you need it.
Not as much as you want it.
Not into coherence:
Coherence for them, watching you.
Coherence for you, living it.
And when they get right down to it,
No name for those parts that bring most joy;
The parts that connect – to self, to others, cosmic electricity.
Hairstyles, clothing, birthday gifts
Public spaces, family trips
Online forms, relationships
“Man bun”, “Lady Beard”
“Hello, ladies!”, “Come on, lads!”
Nights out and mornings in the gym
School and work and every bloody thing –
Not a minute of respite, not a moment of rest,
There’s fucking gender
Everywhere.
But, strangely, just 2 of them.
Too much gender?
Or not enough?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
My kids are at a Worthing school,
They’re always doing eco projects for class:
Meeting hedgehogs, cycling – recycling;
‘Adopt a verge!’ (that was cool –
Planted flowers, seeds and grasses).
No pesticides!
The kids will be wiser than we were.
Wiser than my dad,
He couldn’t stand a dandelion, wouldn’t tolerate toadflax or thistle
Bloody Weeds! he called ’em, wielding his deadly spray.
My kids understand the many rare things a dandelion can do.
They see the beauty in campion and cowslip and they’ve taught me –
There’s no flowers and weeds, but an abundance of forms –
No benchmark, no standard, no binary or norm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biodiversity – nature’s variety:
Multiplicity, complexity, plurality of form
In our precious, powerful,
Ecosphere.
