finding the hidden things

8/8/2019 Finding the Hidden Things

1/17

Finding the Hidden Things

By The Jotter

1


2/17

If we go into the worldWith eyes open, nostrils flaring

Ears at the ready,

And patience - always patience -

Watchingwe will find those things

Which are hidden to the casual passerby,Hidden from the modern world of fast pacing

That to and fro, from job to party toSpecial effect with no story.

But the patient will find

The small beauty, the careful plot of life, the ant still and sensing,The suggestion of a past not allowed into the rushed life.

The hidden things coming to those

Who hide between the moments of today

And tomorrow.

The hidden watcher camouflagedIn the tree watching the approach of the city

To his home,

Watching for the coming of the four-legged chasers.

One of the hidden, a cousin

To the pursuit of patience.

2


3/17

Souls,

Hidden in the past

Their direction known but the purpose

Is anyones guess.

Their toes once curled around the shifting tan sand

To press forward.Some with an idea of where they head

Others

Just guessing at their future.The future sometimes

Only leaves us with footprints

And the past gives usA walking sun-dream.

The deepest imprints

Will last beyond the windLonger than the rest.

The lesson: dont rest.

3


4/17

Perhaps they all walked to here.

Where is that hidden crowd,

Leaving oneAlone

Solo in the sun?

Stark white steel and stucco building

Left to rise against the skyA sloth to rise from its antlike beginnings

But now stabbing the blue sky

Rising like a fat phallusFrom the green jungle

At the edge of sandAnd footprints.

The fertility of imagination

Is sometimes a blessing.

The imagination of fertilityCan be a curse.

4


5/17

Where does the seed go?

Blown on the wind

Of chance

Of drifting thereFrom here

And wafting like the cotton wings it has

The air caressing it and teasing it here,Then there.

Here, the eventual resting place hidden,The seeds are laid in the future, the

Billowing

A means for creation to receiveWhat we conceive.

The milk-weed to ariseHidden in the small core

Of a small brown seed on the endOf a white wisp.

5


6/17

Some of us hide

In the now,

In a crowd

At the back,Unsure of what we face.

Unsure of what we think.

So we duck.

Its like it was back in school.If we look at our feet the gym teacher wont

Pick us

To demonstrate the new thing.Being taught today, for that

Act of being picked

Always makes some of us nervous

And calls us out of hiding.

6


7/17

Not in the sand

Do we hide our headsAnd hearts. The Black Swan

Once thought not to exist,

Dreamed by statisticians as the eventWhich cant happen

Statistically. So when it does happen,

Its a black swan.

It happened.

We cant hide our heads.And maybe we havent

But were certainly near to itStanding at the edge of a hidden surface

Putting our head in our feathers.

7


8/17

Its there

Just beneath the surface

Breaking the tension of waterFor air

Concentric circles telltale signs

Of lifeMoving below our vision our

Awareness of things on that other side

Weak

How many see only the algae bloomsNot that ancient thing which moves below?

8


9/17

Where have we gone?

What have we done

That we dont enjoy the sun?

Parasols protect the empty lounging apparatus,

Those thoroughly modern bygones

Of irony, the desire to enjoy the sunHereditary

From the primitive,

But the time to get hereAcquired

From modern work completed inside.

We are not here.

9


10/17

Hidden power in wind

And water

The broken sea of glass

TurbulentTo match

The mood of the day

The mood of the watcherHidden

The coming storm

Behind the rolling powerOf breaking wave and roiling cloud

Of push to shore of intemperate air

Invading the peaceBringing with it the electricity

Of life and death.

10


11/17

Life and death.

Dinner hidden

From the seeker.

Life and death,Predator on stilt legs

Prey under a pebble

Of sand.

Move fast little legs

Or the surfWill hide you as well.

11


12/17

Initial fast wing flaps

Giving way to glide

Hidden grace over curling power

Flying away from our approach.

Is it just the bird leaving us?

Or is it the natureOf nature to flee our advance?

Is nature,Like the squirrel in the tree,

Watching

For the approach of that without grace?

The hidden grace of wingsThe grace of hydro power beneath the waves

The foaming kiss of curling waterTo the approaching sand

And in it all

The approaching hidden slap! of waterFlat on sand.

12


13/17

Big wings or small wings

There is hidden beauty in folded wings,Crawling on the living leaf,

Drawn by the scent

And the offer of rest.

What would make the world

Open up its wings

Without need of closingOr rest?

13


14/17

The appearance of hidden eyes,

Warning predators away

Drawing religious adoration of the ancients.

The seeing eye that brings rewardOr danger if you are not careful.

The keyFor the watcher

Is to remain hidden

And not disturb the scene.

14


15/17

Hidden scavenger on the field of yellow,

If you look close in the middle,

Hidden flowers behind protecting screen,

The power of exploding colorHidden from those who pass by.

You need to enterTo see the pulse of nature

The yellow below

Matching that of sun above.

Scent on air from open blooms

The full beauty still behindClosed buds.

The future holds both the fullest delight

Of completed blossomsAnd

The full disinterest of decayed spent flowers

Once their duty is complete.

15


16/17

In our desire, in ourConceit

We have brought within our boundaries

That which has no boundary.

Nature, hidden behind our fences.Is its power diminished?

We think it is enough

To miniaturize natureAnd cage it so that we have a piece caught.

Inside or out, however, the hiddenGives us a balm, a boon.

Lucky is he who can see into his own soul.

Shared paranoia and delight over the hidden things

We might ourselves become hidden on the cliff,Overseeing the passage of a river,

In order to cast the spelling words

And discover what passes us by on a typical day.

16


17/17

All pictures and words by Steve Ullom

Under Creative Commons licensing

Cover picture is over the Mackinaw river in Illinois.

Squirrel is from backyard in Normal, Illinois.

All other pictures from Florida, near Melbourne.

17

finding the hidden things

Documents