Letter to Interdependence
New Moon Poem
A few months ago, while Scientific Animism was much fuzzier in my head, my writing group spent ten minutes each writing a letter to an abstract concept (“like peace of mind, death, freedom, eternity, rebellion, serenity, time, surrender, anger, regret, pleasure, mystery, silence, contentment, discomfort, space, individuality”).
I picked interdependence.
Writing this felt like writing within an existing Scientific Animist tradition. I wanted to invite other people to write poems exploring other aspects of this tradition. Since it wasn’t well-defined yet, I started thinking about how to define it a little better, eventually leading to this Substack.
Consider yourself invited. I want to read your poems.
Enjoy this one with summer sun dappled through green leaves, ears filled with the indecipherable drama of birds and squirrels. Or with whatever happens outside your window on this, the second of the season’s three new moons.
Swirling tangled mat
mycelium to roots to xylem to fluttering leaf
planet bursting
life in all its complexity
give me more holistic religion
tell me a story more grounded in truth
we are special
not alone
not over nature
but embedded
the universe not made for us
but us for it
by it
with it
among
let's not celebrate
dominion
let's not aspire to
mastery
let's not pretend our minds will last
forever
when we know our particles will
eternal reuse
eternal experiment
form to form to form
me, a ripple
a current
a swirl
holy holy holy
to be swept up
in some holy narrative
to be a part
to marvel
to bow
all here already,
just look around!
the world made you and you get
to see it
touch it
breath it
play
learn
be
"let's not celebrate
dominion
let's not aspire to
mastery"
So beautiful!