School
A poem for groupers
School
Scale to scale,
packed into a school,
he sees nothing but brethren
from unblinking eyes
staring out from either side
of his head:
fish, fish, and more fish
— singular and plural
like sheep or ostrich—
just like him,
undulating as one,
synchronized swimmers
darting en masse,
a throng of flickering
shadow that
mirrors himself
to infinity,
and pulses with as many gills;
a school that stays the course,
follows the leader—
when it’s really
only the tail in front
and every tail
beyond that—
a school that turns
obedience into trust
and trust into obedience,
a collective group-mind
that subsumes sovereignty
and promises protection.
Lucky human, graced with
instinct and the choice
to raft together or solo swim,
and two frontal eyes
to hunt and blink and see:
the pitiless irony
when a school blinds
to sparkling sand,
shafts of light,
the joy of autonomy,
and the net
that awaits
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Well, Mary, you certainly isolated the single most significant contributing factor to what’s keeping our society stuck and unable to reclaim our freedom and get our lives back.
Walter Lippman had a famous quote: “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much”. Our greatest scientists, philosophers, inventors have never been those who subscribed to “Group Think”. They always struck out in their own unique direction, gone against the grain, or the tide and followed their own instincts. As a result, we have all benefited monumentally from their courage and accomplishments.
I think your choice of “sheep and ostrich” as animals whose names are spelled the same in the singular and the plural couldn’t have been more illustrative of your point.
These lines also spoke to me: “turn(ing) obedience into trust, trust into obedience”. It’s very subtle what’s happening to us. We don’t notice until it’s too late, that we have just been tricked, fooled, “played”.
I had to think a while about the last lines: “the joy of autonomy, and the net that awaits”. I think you were warning that if you choose autonomy, there will be joy, but also risk involved. (Correct me on that if I didn’t get your meaning quite right.)
Thank you for another thought-provoking piece. You never disappoint. Keep it up. xox