Poetry on change is perhaps so consoling because it helps us observe change in other minds or change in nature from a safe distance. The only constant in life is change. But when we are in the midst of it, it is all to easy to feel like the experience is unique and that we are alone. Change can be frightening (like death, or loss) or it can be inviting and welcomed (like a vacation or a new thrilling move). Perhaps the secret to welcoming change is to find the adventure within each shift. The Hawaiian word for change is huli, to turn. The turn can be a dance, like the hula, or a shift in perspective.
Poetry is a paradox of change and stillness. The art form depicts change–someone changing their own mind through the act of observation, or the individual reflecting on the passage of time. Poetry, at the same time, is a static object. The written poem is unchanging, fixed, but the psychological experience of reading a poem is transitory and exists within time, in motion. Poetry offers a vehicle through which we can embrace change, while also taking delight in the fixed nature of that which is already written. There is a great deal of comfort in facing uncertainty when filtered through the lens of the certain. The poem’s certainty lies in its writteness.
Nature’s unfolding is written in change. The Grand Canyon is the product of five million years of change, the slow process of a river’s erosion. Mountains rise slowly. Some are still rising. Volcanoes sometimes cause rapid change. Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington and half a mountain disappeared. In Hawai’i, magma creeps to the sea, and overnight a new beach is formed. Seasons change. Time passes. Nature’s change is slow but relentless.
The most difficult changes involve death and loss, but these changes can sometimes open new ways of being. We die so as to make room for the next generation. In order for new redwoods to grow, the redwood forest must burn. When the National Park Service relentlessly protected the forest from fires, no new trees sprouted. Fire opens the cones. When fire were permitted to burn freely, a new generation was seeded.
This is a metaphor for life. Change opens the human mind to new experiences and opportunities.
COVID-19 has changed our lives–perhaps permanently, but many of these changes are good. In O’ahu, where I live, Hanauma Bay, the coral reef state park is healing. Rare monk seals are swimming closer to shore. The corals are brighter. Bigger fish are once again venturing into the bay. People are changing too. May it be for the best and for the better.
About the Writer
Janice Greenwood is a writer, surfer, and poet. She holds an M.F.A. in poetry and creative writing from Columbia University.