By Tina Schumann
With the husband making coffee at the kitchen sink,
his t-shirt still warm with sleep. The cat blinking
from her window perch and the coreopsis
still in bloom behind her. With the neighbor’s bamboo
swaying in autumn light and the single white mushroom
in the front lawn that appears and disappears in a day.
Anything that says I am not inert
matter. I can be jolted awake
by the everydayness of the world.
Blindsided while channel surfing
on a Tuesday night of dull television
and suddenly there’s Pete Townshend,
seventy-six and mostly deaf still windmilling
his pitcher's arm across the face of a Stratocaster.
Still gripping on to the neck
of whatever he has left to give.
His almost libidinous hunger for noise
and grit and motion and giving
the crowd what they still crave
radiating from the whole of his long body.
All these decades later and the mutual joy
reverberates. What does happiness mean
anyway? That you breath? That despite
the damaged world you will stumble on it
when you need it most and that you are
willing to let your fingers go bloody in the pursuit.
Originally appeared in Dorothy Parker's Ashes
The Importance of Arts, Culture, The Creative Process, and how this project resonates with you.:
I think Martha Graham said it best. “There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." I will just add that creativity and the arts is what we stay alive for. Including love, which is its own form of art and creativity.
What was the inspiration for your creative work?
I challenged myself to write a "Happy" poem. Of course for me that turned into analyzing where happiness comes from and its many forms. Coming across Pete Townshend still performing and giving us his artform was just the inspiration I needed.
Tell us something about the natural world that you love and don’t wish to lose. What are your thoughts on the kind of world we are leaving for the next generation?
Such a huge question. What can I say? All of it. The evergreens that wave outside my window, the family of deer that amble by rooting for soft shoots, the open water and antient snow-capped mountains I can see from my front door, my neighbors Lavender sprouting up like fireworks. What do we have without the natural world? We are it and it is us. Saving it is also the preservation of humanity.
