Blackout Poem

A Challenge to See

I tell my students,

“Go, stand on top of my desk.”

“What do you see?”

We go outside.

“Bend over.

View the world from upside down.”

“What do you see?”

They stand in a bent row,

Looking at trees, farms, flowers, grass

All upside down.

“What do you see?”

Trees gripping the earth fiercely with their roots,

So that they do not fall away

And float off into space

Past Saturn and Pluto.

“What do you see?”

Dew clinging to the grass,

Working its way up to the earth.

“What do you see?”

Daffodils hanging from the dirt ceiling,

Like a hundred suns strung up and tied with bows.

“What do you see?”

The rows of orchard trees,

Hanging close to the ground,

Or maybe it’s the sky…

Everything’s a little confused

In this upside down world.

“What do you see?”

It takes time, thought, effort

To really see.

To see the world

As the unique and beautiful masterpiece

That God created it to be.

So take a moment and look.

Really look.

“What do you see?”