How To See Poem by Seamus O' Brian
How To See
To fully appreciate a tree
Or a sparrow or the edge
Of a cloud against the sky
Look upon it
As if tomorrow
You will be blind.
Run your eyes over the textures
Let your mind taste the flavor
Of each hue and shade
Trail your hands over its bark
Let the roughness of a leaf
Wander between the tips
Of your fingers as if
today is the last day
you will walk free
beyond the prison walls.
True wealth is not
Possessions obtained
But momens possessed.
since seeing is so much part of our craft, seamus, i was drawn to check out this poem. what came to mind for me, though, is a different kind of seeing. the first time it happened to me was during my college years, and i was sitting on a bench across from where i lived in manhattan, and suddenly i saw a tree as for the first time. for a moment there was nothing between me and the tree, no awareness of me gazing, just a sudden apprehension of the wholeness of the tree as a living thing. i think of this moment as a spiritual experience because i recognize it as something i didn't create or force. it was a moment of grace which had nothing to do with volition. if you know e.e. cummings' sonnet which begins, i thank you for most this amazing day, i wonder if cummings had such an experience that inspired the poem. ah! for such moments. and yay! for grace. i think of these as moments of clarity, of really seeing. know what i mean? glen
What an amazing experience, Glen, and having experienced on lesser degrees perhaps a visual paradigm shift of a similar nature, I would definitely agree that it qualifies as a spiritual experience. Your description of sudden clarity is vivid and so well defines such moments. I love that you refer to it as a moment of grace, because our physical vision is such an amazingly complex gift of grace to begin with, and then the ability to see beyond the visible is an additional measure of grace. Thank you for such insightful and provocative thoughts for meditation this morning. Be blessed this week, my friend!
This is our mantra, Neal! To really see! You have expressed it so well; even I forget to observe and absorb once in a while and need your reminder...Marianne Reninger
Indeed, a beautiful poem! The photo with the tree, and with such a wonderful view, for the eyes to see, its just lovely. Thanks for sharing and for telling the world, True wealth is not just possessions, , , ,
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/12/2024 11:06:11 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Written like a poet: the taste of colors. What a joy to be able to experience the natural world in this way. And, yes, it is, by a far better measure of your life. Nicely done.