A Pacific Northwest native, I have been writing poetry over 40 years. My poems reflect a woman’s journey through the later years, with recurring themes of loss and renewal.
I have read at many local poetry venues and am a member of Seattle Poets Table. My first book, If the Moon Came Out Only Once a Month, was published in 2012 and my current book, What the Tulips Said, was published in 2019.
SWARM INTELLIGENCE
A friend of mine is studying
what she calls “swarm intelligence,”
the unique ability of birds and bees
to and act as as one, like geese
who suddenly will wheel around
as if responding to a silent signal
and fly the other way, and I wonder
how the swarm intelligence compares
with “herd mentality” in which
a flock of sheep follows, blindly,
any leader who happens to be in front,
even if he (or she) takes them off a cliff,
and that led me to consider
the concept of the hundredth monkey
where if you have a group of say,
one thousand monkeys,
and you teach them some new skill,
when monkey number ninety-nine
has mastered it, the next day all one thousand
monkeys wake up knowing how to do it,
and finally I got to thinking that since we are all
members of the animal kingdom and have
as much sense as a goose, and can see when
the wool is being pulled over over our eyes and
– how I will not speak for you –
are smarter than the average ape, maybe
there will come a time when a swarm
of humanity rises up as one,
the world’s survival riding
on their wings, pauses
for a moment in mid-air,
then turns in unison
to go a new
direction.
To view the previous C Ross poem – click here
