'Caving' by J.J. Clark
J.J. Clark writes in between moments of vacuuming, cooking, corralling his two children, and teaching high school.
He wrote this poem to process the world when it was shutting down and hopes it reminds readers of the positive things they may have forgotten about.
J.J. believes in the power of writing as an outlet — especially during this time. “You should be writing everything down,” he said.
J.J. Clark
Caving
Whatever it is in you—
that little thing you have taught yourself to ignore
with age or pessimism,
with time or demands of money,
retirement, education,
or whatever you are waiting for—
listen to it.
Perhaps it calls you to sing again,
or dance in a room with no one watching
or write poetry in a lonely journal that sits under
piles and piles of paper on a desk,
or a bed, or the floor.
Perhaps once it asked you to pretend you were a superhero
and run through yards destroying pretend enemies
before all the enemies became real.
Or perhaps it is the voice that keeps you calm
in moments like these—
when the world is breaking,
and your world is breaking.
That voice is more real
than the news feed on your phone,
social media posts,
or anything that always updates.
Books have endings,
stories conclusions,
conversations pauses.
Songs have space and time between beats.
Even our lonely planet spins at 1,000 miles per hour
to bring us day and night.
Whoever you are reading this,
find a quiet space in your life today
and listen again
to whatever it is in you,
and sing that song for the rest of us.