Symmathesy

(the poem)

Each one of us is a crooked tree,

Reaching for water and light,

Bending ourselves around obstacles,

Scary thoughts, hurtful moments,

darkness & thirst,

Finding a way to breathe in the sun and hold the soil,

Our branches are kinked and twisted,

Because that is what it took to be here,

The ways of learning to be in our worlds,

Have shaped responses,

Our many experiences are speaking through every gesture.

Our loves, and broken paths, a tenderness, a criticism,

Learning always,

Yearning always,

In crooked beauty…

To be a home for those who may find comfort

In the asymmetry of our belonging,

A nest cradling new life,

Tucked into an old log teeming with creatures,

learning to be in each other’s reshaping.

Nora bateson 2022

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Note: this poem is based on a theory of Symmathesy, which is: transcontextual mutual learning. Here is a link to the whole paper:

https://wordpress.com/post/norabateson.wordpress.com/41