"TO SEE THE PACIFIC IN A PUDDLE"
( for Fiona being a belated birthday poem on her lockdown birthday )
I miss
the hug hellos
I miss
the kiss goodbyes.
The looking
into eyes
the laughter
the surprise.
How much we
took for granted
the simple
sharing of a cuppa
the simple
touching of a hand.
Some day when all this
will be a story to be told
when we will be
unearthed as if
from an archaeological gig
blinking at the future
the ordinary things
the bric-à-brac
of who we are
and how
will be precious
as anything to be
found in a museum
the jewels of the everyday.
To see the Pacific
in a puddle
eternity in
a child's smile
a walk in the wood
the infinity of a wild flower
the kissing you goodbye
the hugging you hello.
***
The title is derived from my twisted remembrance of Tristan Gooley's How To See the Pacific In A Pond chapter in his
wonderful HOW TO READ WATER.
It's not that we took these things for granted but that they were so much a part of how we interacted with people that they became invisible to us...they were the "the just there" of the thereness. The lockdown made us aware of them when they had gone under the radar...we had the love but were unaware of all the emotional little things and cogs that made all the wheels go around.
3d ago
Jun 1, 2026 at 12:15 PM UTC
"TO SEE THE PACIFIC IN A PUDDLE"
( for Fiona being a belated birthday poem on her lockdown birthday )
I miss
the hug hellos
I miss
the kiss goodbyes.
The looking
into eyes
the laughter
the surprise.
How much we
took for granted
the simple
sharing of a cuppa
the simple
touching of a hand.
Some day when all this
will be a story to be told
when we will be
unearthed as if
from an archaeological gig
blinking at the future
the ordinary things
the bric-à-brac
of who we are
and how
will be precious
as anything to be
found in a museum
the jewels of the everyday.
To see the Pacific
in a puddle
eternity in
a child's smile
a walk in the wood
the infinity of a wild flower
the kissing you goodbye
the hugging you hello.
***
The title is derived from my twisted remembrance of Tristan Gooley's How To See the Pacific In A Pond chapter in his
wonderful HOW TO READ WATER.
It's not that we took these things for granted but that they were so much a part of how we interacted with people that they became invisible to us...they were the "the just there" of the thereness. The lockdown made us aware of them when they had gone under the radar...we had the love but were unaware of all the emotional little things and cogs that made all the wheels go around.
