\u201cNothing in this world is indifferent to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I am struck by how this idea transforms my poem. What I had thought of as an\u00a0outward- facing documentary record now takes on a different register. Instead\u00a0of\u2014as the poem asks\u2014remembering \u201c\u2026what we saw or how it felt to us,\u201d the focus\u00a0becomes more relational, more dynamic. I am not the only one looking. What\u00a0happens if I consider that the world(s) I saw on that \u201cnormal\u201d day are looking at me,\u00a0thinking of me? Are caring for and questioning me?<\/p>\n
Rainer Maria Rilke wrote about \u201cin-seeing,\u201d to let ourselves go into the center of\u00a0things, the point from which they begin to be themselves. In his famous poem,\u00a0\u201cArchaic Torso of Apollo,\u201d he allows himself to be seen by what he is seeing. And he\u00a0recognizes the life-changing impact of that. But Pope Francis takes it further. By\u00a0engaging with the idea of indifference, we are asked with more urgency to consider\u00a0reciprocity and the consequences of ignorance.<\/p>\n
It is exciting to see my poem\u2014an art object I thought I understood\u2014become\u00a0something else once it encounters and is encountered by the world. It is equally\u00a0exciting, and somewhat daunting, to realize that I, too, have become\u2014and must\u00a0become\u2014something new as a result of this encounter. The next time I take a walk at\u00a0Lake Roland (or anywhere, for that matter), I will try to remember how it feels to be\u00a0looked at without indifference, how it feels to be looked at by the rancid lake. By the\u00a0vine-choked trees. By too many smelly dogs. By the lake\u2019s waters spilling feelingless\u00a0over the dam. And even by all of what I cannot see.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Wallace Sometimes, too rarely, I walk at an urban nature area near my Baltimore home.\u00a0There\u2019s nothing pristine about Lake Roland. The water is a little bit rancid; the well-loved dog park smells\u2014well\u2014like dogs. Commuter train tracks cut the tails in half.\u00a0The … Continue reading
\nHer new poetry collection is due to be published Spring 2017 by Paraclete Press.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Jennifer](\"http:\/\/blog.paracletepress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Jennifer-Wallace-3.jpg\")
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