Poem: The Design of Purpose

The Design of Purpose

Who thinks about the purpose of frost?

Who even thinks whether or not it has

A purpose? I always thought it was just

There. But, since someone, a poet perhaps,

Made me think about frost, not just its what

But also its why, I guess it does things,

Whether with purpose or not, perhaps it

Is given purpose by something or someone

Just like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle

That has no sentience of its own.

Is frost a tool, leverage breaking up hills?

There is no doubt it causes mountains to 

Crumble and move toward the sea. If you

Doubt it, take a drink from the sea and taste

The salinity of the far-off hills

Brought here by mountain frosts and cleansing rains.

Yes, indeed, frost has purpose and we need

Not wait for its salinity in sea

To preserve as it preserves of its own.

Purpose is in the coldest freezer and

The smallest salt shaker on a clear, star

Filled night placed just right in that Van Gogh print

Made into a thousand-piece jigsaw.

Perhaps the sentiency is not in the frost

Or absence of the sun that makes it so,

Yet even here within I can see

Something perfect in cracked rocks and salty

Seas that have absolutely nothing or

Absolutely everything to do

With me. That is the design of purpose.

April 2023

About This Poem

I don't know what precipitated this particular poem besides a frosty spring morning, but I often play with things that seem so disconnected like frost and salt and jigsaw puzzles. They so often connect when we think they don't, forming a beautiful picture that we might not ever see. You can see me playing with those connections here. The photo is just a frosty apple orchard outside of Yakima, Washington.