EQUANIMITY
The salamander I uncovered
suddenly while tossing away
the alder billet once his roof,
exposed in an instant to the day,
naked without sting or scale,
looked at me with alien eyes,
head at a tilt, a curious gaze
absent any hint of fear
or bother or hysteria,
placid as if all the day
were his to laze upon his perch
alone atop his wet wooded world.
Were it so that we were heir
to such a state of self control
and unfazed equanimity
at each surprise, the sudden turn
where without warning we look up
to see Goliath towering tall,
our fragile order in his hand.
A poem for all of us as we head into this much anticipated election week. May we aspire to the nobility of the salamander in the midst of such dramatic hand-wringing and doomsaying all around us.