In Praise of Community

– with thanks to Merriam-Webster Online

A coterie of chick-a-dees
communes
in my maple tree.
A tribe of constellations
self-distances
in the rising night.
Brown-robed monastics
bow
before broken bread.
Circles of poets
zoom
from inspiration rooms.
Fellowships
connect
black/brown/yellow/white/red.

Let’s praise
every synonym
that binds, bonds, ties, unites
and make a communal vow:
if any family, circle,
troop, guild, league,
club, or neighborhood
morphs
into a clique, sect, gang,
faction, or closed shop,
we’ll revise
our acclaim and delete
our membership
without
a moment’s doubt.

Previously published in The Blue Nib.

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From associate professor of English to management trainer to retiree, Carolyn Martin is a lover of gardening and snorkeling, backyard birds and feral cats, writing and photography. Her poems have appeared in more than 135 journals throughout North America, Australia, and the UK. She is currently the poetry editor of Kosmos Quarterly: journal for global transformation.