Friday, August 1, 2008

big


i am
the small one


the stepladder girl
the tiptoe stander
using wooden spoons to get down the cocoa powder
asking attendatns to reach the size small from the top rack
too short to be noticed at the deli checkout counter


i am small
in a too-big world



a fast world
pushy
swift
strong undertow
of ostensible enormity


it's noisy
and big
vast
confusing
distorted
intimidating




but i am light
lithe
agile
i can jump up
climb
if i need to



and i can see the small things
that the big people miss



i may not reach the cocoa
or the highest rack
or the deli counter
...
but i can reach the grass
and the puddles
and the stray lost objects
and the inchworms



and



...the other small people




big, really


in a small way





19 comments:

Erachet said...

I like it. :)

halfshared said...

Hey, I like that. You make being small sound cool. I am somewhere in between so I guess I get the best of both worlds.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I love that poem, that was great!

but why are the words right aligned?

David_on_the_Lake said...

Great..poem and sentiment..
Loved the last line...

G said...

::steps around::

Floating Reflections said...

Yay, another insightful post. Love it. In addition, the amount we actually learn, when as adults, we take the time to sit on the floor and to see the world through 'small' eyes, can be humbling and very refreshing.

pobody's nerfect. said...

very nice.

chav said...

heyyy...

i love this...because..
as a person just skimming the five foot mark, i can completely identify.

but as the adage goes,
'big things come in small packages.'

nicely done.

corner point said...

Erachet--
Thanks
:-)

Half--
Being small is cool! Get that, all you giants out there!!
:-P

Ezzie--
Yup
:-)

Babysitter--
Welcome! Nice to see a new face :-)
I right-aligned it to make it look different, like someone seeing things from a different perspective, namely, a shorter one. I like aligning my poems in different ways to see the effect.

David--
Thank you :-)

G--
Go ahead

Smile--
101% That's one of the reasons I loved teaching preschool...I learned so much about life from sitting on a pint-sized blue plastic chair...
(Happy? :-D)

Po--
Thanks, dear
:-)

Chav--
Yep, that's me, too :-D
And thanks for the reminder

the sabra said...

Not that you asked (and I now see that David disagrees), but I like it better without the last line.

Either way, tremendous piece.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it's the small people, doing the small things, that end up making the biggest difference. :)

Mindy Schaper said...

Whoo-hoo! Good one. AND- beautiful picture. :)

Keep it up, it's really a pleasure reading your stuff.

EndOfWorld said...

I like it!
I used to feel really tall until I got married...where most members of my new family TOWER above me

ella said...

The last line has to stay. Not even a question.

Freeda said...

corner point- don't know if ur still looking back here- but i'm still going. have access here at my bro's house

Anonymous said...

Wow. Just wow. You really do look at life through a different perspective...Thanks for sharing this. [And the right alignment makes a huge difference.]

the dreamer said...

Well, can't say I identify with the smallness of it all...

But you can stand on a chir and come see things from my perspective...

little sheep said...

hiya! i don't think you're small at all...you're a lot bigger than me! (rebbitzen!) ;-)

little sheep said...

oops, i 4got-no comparing!