What is Joy to the Snapping Turtle?

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

What is joy to the snapping turtle?

His beaky jowl open wide

does not invite a kiss.

His algae-slimed carapace

is rough around the edges,

sculpted by millennia of quarrels

with the world.

It does not invoke cuddle, or caress.

Dare you seek his intimate company,

he will hiss, puff, and rise.

Insist, and be met by a strike

of serpentine appearance and precision.

He has no patience for your curiosity,

No want for admiration or allegiance.

Coo and he will think you ridiculous.

When on land,

he has no retreat from your love

and it scares him.

But oh give him the substrate of

pond bottom muck

and all that he has learned

of passion comes alive.

Like a monk who knows

a specific mist-enshrouded mountain

as the extension

of his soul,

the snapping turtle glides

along a thoroughfare of beaver channels

and snacks on lizard's tail plants

as a matter of meditation

and transpersonal expression.

Watch this ancient master long enough

and you will discover what joy is.

Joy is surrendering your entire being

to the element to which you belong.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

from "Sacred Reciprocity: Courting the Beloved in Everyday Life" and
"Wild Life: New and Selected Poems"


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