Cutting Greens

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I have been thinking a lot about connection. The Pandemic has been hard for many of us. We have felt alone in our pain. We have been angry about vaccines and lockdowns, and frustrated with people who don’t share our masking beliefs. And it’s hard at times like this to find the balance between honoring our experience and our perspective while also recognizing our interconnectedness with all beings, irregardless of their perspective.

I think we can do both, or at least try. One of my favorite poems by Lucille Clifton explores the bond between all living beings. It is a short poem, and I include it here in its entirety:

Cutting Greens

by Lucille Clifton

curling them around

i hold their bodies in obscene embrace

thinking of everything but kinship.

collards and kale

strain against each strange other

away from my kissmaking hand and

the iron bedpot.

the pot is black,

the cutting board is black,

my hand,

and just for a minute

the greens roll black under the knife,

and the kitchen twists dark on its spine

and I taste in my natural appetite

the bond of live things everywhere.

When I read this poem I am reminded to be kind, because we all know pain. I am reminded that I am not alone and that if I am sad or depressed, there is probably someone else out there who is feeling the exact same thing. And I am reminded to acknowledge the perspectives of all beings. And I am reminded to respect all creation and consider my connection to the natural world.   

I bought some collard greens today; I think I’ll make them for dinner tonight.