a candy-colored morning on today of all days
life
made
a shape
that although geometrically
improbable was true
soft-edges
tucked between
this architecture of
napes huddled and
memory of
swan swan
on a dock
sea lazily lapping
barely awake
and the sun
morning
blanket
Look at that… a Valentine’s Day poem (a day after, of course). Interestingly both this poem and the poem from two weeks ago revolve around the idea of using the words light and life interchangeably. Right before sending this one out, I changed the first word. Maybe give it a read the other way too…
In a recent conversation with the author/scientist Merlin Sheldrake and artist Barney Steel, they raised the idea that by studying mycorrhizal networks and other vast networks of increasingly small scale, one is left wondering with a beautiful chicken/egg question: what comes first, the beings that relate or the relating? It’s a beautiful question, especially starting at the cellular level. To further visualize this they then posit the question “Where do you end and begin when the sunlight is under your skin?” At a molecular level, this happens any time you stand in the light or even touch someone.
Honestly, I think this poem started with a fairly vivid image of a corny Valentine’s Day card where two swans faced each other, necks forming a heart. From there I filled in the rest of the things and started to blur the edges.
This is a love poem in that it is a “home” poem. It is the shape of the light that slips through the gaps when two beings stand close.
With Gratitude,
Lovely and heartwarming. I love the “swan swan” and the lack of punctuation made me play with its emphasis in the poem, but I didn’t even consider it as a visual at first. The molecular “sunlight” concept is new to me. I’m not sure I’m familiar with the reacting science you’re referencing here? But I think I’m picking up on the high level as to how we react to sun and physical touch on a molecular level.