 |
| {dog zen by Angela Adan -- Deserving Dogs Rehab & Rescue Santa Barbara!!} |
There is no turning away from the
animal –
They will chase where you do not
control;
they will bite you. There is no
biting back at the animal –
Your fear-sharp shout will
increase their tension;
they will bite you.
There is only to project out at the
animal
Your energy; the world that you desire:
If you want to be in control,
believe that first, then show. Show.
Claim beyond your bounds like
a leader does; Calm and
certain, tried and true.
The animal will try to lead you
with their muscle; you have
No muscle (not like theirs)
No fangs (just teeth) no
Fur (just hair), but have
That mind. A mind
That shapes out
Shared energy.
So with their
Fangs, be
Calm, be
True.
Be.
Like animals and their ability to bite, fears and insecurities pose a threat to those who allow themselves to appear vulnerable. It is impossible to escape the danger of an animal, as with fears, and if you give authority to the animal by displaying weakness, “Your fear-sharp shout will/increase their tension; they will bite you” (5-7). By responding with defeat as shown through a “fear-sharp shout”, you allow the animal (or fear) to build power against you. As with overcoming an animal, the only way to acquire power over your fears is to “believe that first, then show. Show./Claim beyond your bounds like a leader does; Calm and/certain, tried and true” (11-14). Unlike responding with violence as the animal brings forth, the only way to overcome your fears is to rise above the tactics of the animal and use your own willpower to defeat your fears. If the challenge is taken calmly and with truth, conquering fears is possible.
ReplyDeleteThe first stanza sounds like a warning and a truth that the speaker may have experienced in the past. The speaker is categorizing all animals by saying “the animal,” or he could be talking about an enemy to be afraid of. The speaker is confident you cannot control this animal and there is no point fighting it because “there is no biting back at the animal.” In the second stanza, the speaker preaches that the only way to stand up against the animal is to do it mentally by believing and channeling the right ideas through your energy. The speaker is sure that this inner power is stronger than any animal’s physical strength. The third stanza continues by comparing the animal to a human while lessening the human characteristics. For example, “No muscle (not like theirs)/ No fangs (just teeth)/ no Fur (just hair).” The speaker uses “fangs” to describe the animal, but this can mean all deadly, violent, and unwanted animals or enemies. The speaker finalizes the poem by repeating that the only way to override an animal is to be calm and be true to yourself, and this mindset will lead you to be superior over the animal.
ReplyDeleteThis poem illustrates a contrast between the feral and untamed animal and the refined and intellectual human. If we look at the poem as an account of the taming of a wild animal, we see that it goes in order of the process of domestication. The first stanza describes the innate ferocity of the beast, stating with absolute certainty that it “will bite you”. The second stanza seems to be a battle between human and animal in an attempt to “project out at the animal [...] to be in control”—in other words, to tame the beast. The last stanzas exemplifies all of the stronger characteristics of an animal’s physique and compares them to a human’s lack thereof, but simultaneously maintains that humans need nothing but their minds in order to maintain absolute leadership and control.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that this poem is also a reference to the wild savagery of human beings that derives from our inherently animalistic nature. The poem begins with the ominous assertion, “There is no turning away from the animal —/They will chase where you do not control;/they will bite you”. One of the first things that caught my attention was the erratic inconsistency of the speaker’s use of pronouns in his utilization of “they” in reference to “the animal” rather than he/she/it. My conclusion was that the speaker feels chased, bitten, attacked by not just one, but many creatures. I interpreted this as a reference to the numerous demons that plague the minds of humans, fueled by our baser instincts for greed, power, conflict, sex, and all other animalistic impulses. However, at the same time, our mind—the main thing that separates us from and places us above animals in spite of our comparatively physical ineptitude—allows us to overcome these beasts, both internal and external.
People are not able to fight against animals because we have been trained to eschew our animalistic instincts in order to contribute to a more “civilized” society. While we no longer have the physical attributes of animals due to our evolution as a species, the speaker emphasizes how people still have the mental strength and courage that used to match our physical abilities. The speaker mentions how acting like an animal by shouting or running will result in our own defeat since we are now inferior relative to our counterparts when it comes to performing these tasks. Instead, it is important to “claim beyond your bounds like / a leader does” (12-13). We are the superior species, and it is not through brawn that we have ascended the food chain, but through our brains.
ReplyDelete