deeply known since my childhood
… a witnessing eye …
mirrored by creatures and plants
whispering in leaves
waving from clouds and far stars
palaces of light
nodding flowers in the breeze
… the witnessing eye …
of a fox near the window
the cat visitor
a pair of curious robins
some exceptional humans
that make me feel seen
most nights in my dreams
faces appear – and
a glance of recognition
affirms us as one
… the inner presence …
forever born from darkness
the heart of memory
in the universal mind
sparkling with visions
through endless layers of time
veins of history
… the inner presence …
no known science can fathom
The poem was inspired during a recent visit to the London Aquarium with my ten months old grandson and his parents. The child gazed in wonder at the graceful ethereal dance of fish in their water world, a hand span from his face. His astonishment was catching.
I’m convinced we all have intuitive access to intimate knowledge of life throughout all stages of evolution, sensed with eyes open or closed, though often masked by the imposing literal forms of perception our education gives greater value to.
Through genes and the endowment of a universal mind, children easily embrace complex visionary experiences and insights, like catching the essence and poetry of things around them. That is, if their imagination is encouraged. Later on, it may take some rope-walking skills to bring the inner presence that unites us to the divisive outer world.
Course of Mirrors 