Bringing Democracy

I saw this poem on a colleague’s door, so I Googled it and here it is. I hope that’s okay with Donald Hall and the HMCo.

WE BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE FISH
by Donald Hall, from White Apples and the Taste of Stone

It is unacceptable that fish prey on each other.
For their comfort and safety, we will liberate them
into fishfarms with secure, durable boundaries
that exclude predators. Our care will provide
for their liberty, health, happiness, and nutrition.
Of course all creatures need to feel useful.
At maturity the fish will discover their purposes.

© Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007

What Is Your Dictionary?

Two quotations from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Life is our dictionary,” and “My garden is my dictionary.”