Grasshoppers in the Jar of the World

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The jar is silent because it is full of praise.
The grasshoppers are loud because they, too,
are full of praise, clicking as they fly.

The grasshoppers jump, but the jar is too high.
They try to climb, but it is too slippery,
and clicking they slide and fall, slide and fall.

If the jar’s all there is, why does it need sides?
If there’s nothing else, why should grasshoppers
want to jump and fly away? If they are not meant

to get away, why give them legs and wings?
The jar is silent because it is full of praise;
the grasshoppers click as they fly praising

the outside because it is outside,
because it is unknown and out of reach,
because it makes them angels of desire.

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