Hyperbole
is the soul
of poetry.
Bad memory,
its heart.

Remember Joseph
in his poet's coat
of many colors
pacing the desert
for a bush to scare
a bear from—any game
to ambush into a poem—
and coming across

ten lazy brothers.
They squat before him
like camel drivers
in a circle
tossing dice
for a dirty piece
of marzipan.
They feel no envy,
their teeth are bad.
One squeezes a goat
skin for warm wine,
another kicks bugs
in the hot sand and says
"Hubba. Hubba."

He flaunts his coat
and tempts with quotes
like "One dead and bloated
sheep is worth ten bleating
imaginings." He stalks off,

later offers himself
as slave to a teeming horde,
but they are crude,
they do things
for themselves. Life's
a desert he decides.
The scorpions doze, the click
beetles click.

He goes back
home, hears Jacob
talking to a chicken
in the backroom. Later,
limping out, eyes wild,
he shows Joseph fresh quills
                       
he says he plucked
from the wings
of some angel.

© Mary M. Chadbourne

Mary Chadbourne works on a variety of writing and environmental projects through Chadbourne & Chadbourne, Inc. (C&C), which she and her husband, Joe, founded in 1993. Previously, they served as the principals of the Institute for Environmental Education, a 501(c)3 Ohio non-profit (1971-1993). Their work includes projects for business, public and private education, management consulting, as well as the design and management of proprietary environmental research, programs, workshops, and publications. The chief characteristic of their work has been the synthesis of ideas, resources, and expert teams to solve real-world environmental problems. Past and current projects include:

• Developing, with EcoCity Cleveland, an inventory of land-use policies to guide watershed-based planning to protect the Ohio Lake Erie watershed. Includes design of a decision-support system and an assessment of Ohio’s existing state policies supporting watershed protection. The effort is part of the Ohio Balanced Growth Program, with recommendations approved by the Lake Erie Commission on April 14, 2004. The work follows 3 years of research for the Balanced Growth Blue Ribbon Task Force. (See reports at http://www.epa.state.oh.us/oleo/openhouse.htm).
• Served as project managers of the Organochlorine Project, for CAMP, Inc. (formerly Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program), a five-year research project to help reduce the use and release of toxic, chlorine-based chemicals in the Great Lakes Basin.
• Researched and co-authored three versions of Common Groundwork: A Practical Guide to Protecting Rural and Urban Land, a handbook of over 40 tools for protecting sensitive land, for the Western Reserve Resource Conservation and Development Council.
• Conducted a series of public involvement forums on the environmental status and future public uses of the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie waters for the Cuyahoga River Remedial Action Plan.
• Designed and wrote environmental education materials and conducted hands-on workshops for students and adults for The Nature Conservancy, the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commissions, the U.S. EPA, the Office of Environmental Education (HEW), the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration; the Ford, Cleveland, Gund, and Jennings Foundations, and the National Science Foundation, 1970-1993. Subject matter included watershed investigations, water quality testing, terrestrial ecology activities, and education of appointed and elected public officials on environmental systems interactions.

© 2004 Mary Chadbourne

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