Nothing Wants to Suffer by Danusha Laméris

Nothing Wants to Suffer

by Danusha Laméris

after Linda Hogan

Nothing wants to suffer. Not the wind

as it scrapes itself against the cliff. Not the cliff

being eaten, slowly, by the sea. The earth does not want

to suffer the rough tread of those who do not notice it.

The trees do not want to suffer the axe, nor see

their sisters felled by root rot, mildew, rust. 

The coyote in its den. The puma stalking its prey.

These, too, want ease and a tender animal in the mouth

to take their hunger. An offering, one hopes, 

made quickly, and without much suffering.

The chair mourns an angry sitter. The lamp, a scalded moth.

A table, the weight of years of argument.

We know this, though we forget.

Not the shark nor the tiger, fanged as they are.

Nor the worm, content in its windowless world

of soil and stone. Not the stone, resting in its riverbed.

The riverbed, gazing up at the stars.

Least of all, the stars, ensconced in their canopy,

looking down at all of us— their offspring—

scattered so far beyond reach.

This beautiful poem needs to go viral! I think it speaks to our moment in history; even though it was published in 2021, I think it is one of those poems that people need, and need right now.

I had a handful of poems I thought of posting today, all of them affirming in some way. I was leaning towards this one--and the others will be posted here eventually--when I read what the poet said about the writing of this poem. Here is the part that really struck me: I felt suddenly alert to tenderness, to how carefully and inextricably we’re bound to everything. And to how stories bind us. May we listen to the world and all it has to say.” You can read the rest of her talking about this poem here.

There has been so much lately in the news of people being cruel to and even torturing animals. This administration is turning our protected natural areas into hunting grounds, business ventures for his friends, and places from which natural resources will be taken with no consideration of anything but making money for a few gilded people.

This poem is a reminder that everything wants and needs tenderness. The poet does not even mention humans in this poem; she does not need to. We all know what humans need, and we have horrible news daily showing us what becomes of the people who lacked tenderness and care at pivotal times in their lives (see the above paragraph for examples).

But everything on this planet--and beyond!--needs care. Trees and wind, lamps and stones, worms and chairs.

I love that Laméris chose to include animals that people often think of as brutal killing machines: coyote, shark, tiger. But they also need care . . . maybe not a hug, but clean air and/or water, safety, community, food.

I think this sentence is pivotal:

The earth does not want

to suffer the rough tread of those who do not notice it.

How many times did you acknowledge the earth today? (I am not being accusatory. When I read this, I realized I am as guilty as anyone, taking the earth below me for granted.)

The poem ends far away from earth (at first). The riverbed leads us to the stars, a canopy of them, which is such a comforting image. They, too, require tenderness, and the poet ends with this really wonderful and heartwarming notion:

looking down at all of us— their offspring—

We are the children of stars! Doesn't that make you feel so much more connected to stars and everything else that is out there, far away, as well as what is here on earth with us? "Far beyond reach" is how the poet ends the poem, like an ironic way of reminding us that acts of humanity we give to everyone and everything is well within our reach, including those things so very far away.

Reading this poem certainly makes me feel more kindly towards, well, everything. I am going to be sure that when I walk outside, be it on pavement or lawn, beach or field, I will remember to be grateful to the earth itself.

Now let's make this poem go viral! Share this link! Copy and paste! Print it out and pass it around! Read it out loud on the subway or on line at the grocery store!