In a split second
looking up, my retina thickens with sunlight,
sunlight thickens to vast blue sky,
blue sky thickens to black wings swooping,
dark movement thickens into an object,
the object thickens into a noun: [crow]
the noun disappears into the quicksand of the brain,
a black streak across the sky.
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This poem looks at the experience of perceiving. We perceive the things that appear in our space
effortlessly. At least it seems that way. But many actions occur in the instant of perception. First,
something gets our attention, often through our senses. We see, hear, smell, touch, taste. Or we
have an idea. We become aware if something. In this poem, sunlight in the sky and an object
moving through it. We name the thing perceived: bird. This stops the process of experiencing.
We have frozen the experience with a word. All of this happens in an instant. If we are lucky,
the freeze-frame of the word encapsulating the experience dissolves and we are thrown back
into the delight of perception.
5/20/2019