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| click to enlarge for a laugh |
Things feel a little dis-integrated in the world right now; perhaps this has always been true, but you know how sometimes you feel unhinged from your usual stance, kind of off-the-hook and floating? This poem is part of a collection I've been working on now and then for almost 20 years. It considers perspective, and maybe patience.
Parts
Every now and then you see a thing—
what is that?—
that you can’t take in,
that you can’t read right.
You look and look, but you don’t see
what you’re looking at.
And then all at once
the parts of it are moving,
moving in small ways
into new places,
as if a hand were
moving those parts around,
as if a hand were putting you
in
the right place to see.
And then all at once
you can see it, you find that
a new thing has come together
with all its parts in the right places,
and you have to ask
why you couldn’t see it before.
(C) HM c.2005
The round-up today is with Brenda at Friendly Fairy Tales. I hope a hand puts you in the right place to see...
Amen! You nailed it, Heidi. But once seen, it can't be unseen, which may have something to do with how hard it was at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my favorite part is the hangy-jawn. If that's not a thing, it should be!
DeleteI will send that diagram to my daughter who delights in putting things together. This, a challenge for many, will convince her how hard it is for those of us who cannot use the pictures. As for your poem, one of some celebration by you, seems like life's ebb and flow can make things fall apart and then, the light (cliche I know) but true.
ReplyDeleteI got a good (luckily tea-free) snort out of that diagram. But your poem has a quite different tone and feel.
ReplyDeleteI need to find a way to get that AH-HA feeling of all the discombobulation coming into focus and having meaning. Maybe I'm looking at too big of a picture and I should focus small...
Hmm, I hope I get a moment like that in my life at some point...! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a true poem! You really captured the feeling I often have, especially around my gifted students who always see things a little different than I do.
ReplyDeleteIf you've been working on a collection for 20 years, you can teach us all a thing or two about patience. And I know you are always good at sharing new ways of seeing the world!
ReplyDeleteDo things come together? Mine always seems to be scattered. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh yes, once things click it's hard to see how you ever missed it, but I've spent plenty of time in that space of looking and not seeing.
ReplyDeleteYour poem affected life?! Yes, you can share your lovely poem and its great “after story” with the world… Submit now LifePoemsProject.com
ReplyDelete