Shadow Dancing. The Hedgehog
“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.”
Quote from Carl Sandburg. Series curated by Lynda Bernard.
The Hedgehog, by Lola Haskins
Yesterday, along a walled track
I came upon a dark-brown brush
just the size of my hand. From
under it poked a narrow snout
which, when it sensed my boot,
pulled back as fast as it could.
I know that rush, that flight.
Real fear, imagined fear, it
makes no never mind. There
is something huddled in us all.
Curator’s Note
This isn't a complicated poem. It begins by talking about how there's nothing ordinary about a hedgehog. It looks different, it looks back at you in a funny way, and there's really something astonishing about it. The poem is very straightforward, We're on a walk with the poet, she stumbles upon an unexpected rustle in the leaves. She widens the hedgehog image to contain all of us - our fear, our curiosity, whatever we're keeping contained. And we feel empathy with the hedgehog.
