Like a Poet
It is the responsibility of the poet to be lazy, to hang out
and prophesy.
from Responsibility, a poem by Grace Paley
Maybe you have to be lazy
like a poet,
to decant the story of life
Lazy like a cat stretching.
Lazy like a meandering stream..
Lazy like a child's giggle. Lazy like sun sparkles on pond water. Lazy enough to stop and wonder, look and listen.
Lazy like a poet, decanting the story of life, life hanging out and prophesying.
Prophesying about the people the people who believe in absurdities. About atrocities born of absurdities.
Prophesying about habits and prejudices
disguised
as values and traditions..
Prophesying like a poet. Decanting the story of life.
Freedom with both fear and bravery.
--Sylvia Dodge 10/20/25
