Monday 2 January 2012

Small Stones

1st January

Half seen
a flash of red
goldfinch
among the blue tits

2nd January

Slab of green hillside
against the skyline
a row of trees curtsey
their backs to the sea
tableau of motionless sheep -
it's still life

I'm joining with the River of Stones to pay attention each day and write what I see. I might not keep it up for the whole month - I didn't last year - but I shall try. I've found it such a valuable way of honing my perception so that I don't only look but really see and then weave the experience into words, uniting outer and inner and making it visible.

Feel free to post your own Small Stones here if you'd like - I'd love to read them!

3 comments:

  1. Hello Hilaire ~ What a delightful way of being aware of Life and paying attention! Can only heighten the senses! Love your "small stones." They remind me a little of Haiku. I am going to attempt to do "small stones", although I doubt I will post them everyday on my blog. But I thought I'd share my first attempt here in your comment section. (Don't worry, I won't do this everyday either.) :)

    snow receding
    exposing a browning landscape
    a squirrel digging in the bare spots
    trying to find its buried treasures -
    hopping over the frosted snow patches
    up the fence post
    and down the fence line -
    traveling on to other backyards
    on its search, in its daily play...

    Christine

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  2. Lovely! I can see that squirrel. Feel free to post one whenever you want :-)

    It's good, I think, to pass on these small moments which, by virtue of being high-lighted, take on a greater significance and enable others to see the diversity of the world beyond ourselves.

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  3. Hi Hilaire,

    I enjoy these beautiful scenes through your eyes; "the lovely trees curtseying their backs to the sea," and the "flash of red gold finch among the blue tits," so lovely...Cynthia

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