Saturday, November 21, 2009

symmetry

i like to listen
to the voices in my head.

the conversations / monologues are intriguing
and sometimes helpful!

there was one
recently
that was basically
focussed on the idea
that
"steven needs to change his route home."

- - -


so on my ride home,
i turned right at an intersection
and went north instead of west
as a result of which
i went by
the marina.

it's empty now.

there are no
cabin-cruisers
with party lights
illuminating
the quirky lifestyles of
fourty-somethings
just passing through
on their way to
nowhere.

no little sailboat
masts
gently
clinking
and clanking.

just the very soft sound
of water.

i love symmetry.
especially
when it's not entirely symmetrical
but has enough of
the warp and weft
of time
to skew the details
ever so slightly.

so i was captivated
when i clambered over
a wooden dock
and saw this

can i say that sometimes
it pays to listen
to the voices in your head!

33 comments:

Ruthie Redden said...

i agree with you steven, listening to those wee voices is is something i only started to do lately, ! love your description of not entirely symmetrical symmetry, just how i like it & the phot is peacefully, beautiful *ruthie

steven said...

hi ruthie and welcome!!! i hope that you and all my other visitors click the photo and let it fill your screen up with asymmetircal symmetry! i'm glad that i'm not the only one who's started listening to the little voices in my head - i feel better about that! have a lovely day wherever you spend it. steven

Pauline said...

ah, those little voices - I have a mental picture of wee creatures balancing on your shoulders, clamouring in your ear for change. The symmetry of reflection is lovely!

*** said...

...he looked over the edge of the dock to see his reflection in time - we are clear waters, cerulean sky, cool air. We are the myriad possibilities of that which lay hidden beyond our postcard view. Is this not the reason we feel the way we feel when we experience these experiences?

Reya Mellicker said...

Beautiful as always. And like you I am a lover of near symmetry. Perfect symmetry gets on my last nerve for some reason.

As for the voices, they are always worth listening to. Following their suggestions always deserves some contemplation, like if you were really hungry or it was stormy or you had something else you had to do, then you could have politely said, "I'll cruise by the marina some other time."

As it was, things turned out perfectly. Bravo!!

Golden West said...

Around here, we call that intense shade "Maxfield Parrish blue".

steven said...

pauline - that explains why my shoulders sometimes feel so heavy - so many little people running around on them!!! thanks for the nice comment! have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hello and welcome streamsource! my seeing and hearing is all about trying to see what lies beneath the surface . . . i really like the way you word that knowing. it's also why i'm so fond of symmetry because inside its apparent perfection is the real beauty in its asymmetry . . . so much like living in this world. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

ahhh reya - i knew you'd know about the voices. it really is funny to me that there are discussions and what ifs and why nots that are all my own voices arguing, pontificating and whatever else. "just get it done and stop thinking about it" is my favourite adminishment. have a lovely dc day. steven

steven said...

golden west - how good is that!!! i went through a deep maxfield parrish phase for the colours and the moods alone. i love his work. salvador dali uses a similar blue in his skies. hmmmm. steven

ellen abbott said...

What an amazing picture steven, the sky reflected in the water. It makes the picture look upside down.

Barry said...

Sometimes those voices could be a little quieter. But every now and then they have a very good idea.

As with you, this time.

Anonymous said...

Wee voices.

Julian Jaynes' bicameral mind theory?

steven said...

hello ellen - i see that as well. it was one of those moments where i felt compelled to look in a certain direvtion and after a bit of a clamber there it was. have a lovely day ellen and thanks for upping that amazing story of your glasswork!! steven

steven said...

hey barry thankyou. i thought of you and linda when i took this pic because you two stayed at the holiday inn just a hundred metres from where i took the pic!!!! have a lovely saturday. steven

steven said...

abe - do you hear little voices? other than the grandchildren i mean!!! steven

Jinksy said...

I attribute the little voices to inspiration - the inbuilt urge that compels action for no logical reason, but which often results in a masterpiece.

hope said...

When I worked as a police dispatcher the officers were always saying to me, "Listen to that little voice. It's there for a reason."

Thankfully, it knows beauty as well as danger. What a cool photo! Thanks for sharing.

steven said...

jinksy - i really like stepping out of the logic box - it's a safe but for me at least, unhealthy place to spend much time!!!! thanks for the nice comment. steven

steven said...

hope - i've heard that from police officer buddies as well. it's like an instinct, a built in danger radar, but as you say and as i know, it also allows for walls to be knocked down. letting light in. have a lovely day hope. steven

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes - it is always wise to listen to the voices in ones head steven, but for the life of me I just can;t see what your beautiful picture is.

steven said...

helo weaver - it's a boat dock floating in water. click it up and it'll be easier to see (i think!) have a lovely evening in the dale. steven

Margaret Pangert said...

Hi Steven~ Wow! That is beautiful! It looks like a painting by Rothko or Mondrian who also didn't go for the perfectly symmetrical--but close. Interesting how the boat pin is made of the same wood the third level up-- Based on your perspectives and thoughts in the past, I would say you have a strong intuition which you trust. It hasn't made a mistake yet!

Anonymous said...

The picture is great, Steven, I feel like staying upside down, my feet stuck to the ground from the other side! :-) It makes me think of those old theories on why the earth can't be round but has to be flat otherwise some people would have to go upside down and that's not possible...

Kathleen said...

Such a gorgeous photo -- so glad you listened to your little voices .

About those voices, sometimes I think they're intuition, often The Great Unknowable, and sometimes, if I'm very lucky, the characters in the novel I'm drafting. Unfortunately, they've been silent far too long!

Loren said...

Not sure about listening to those voicies always being a good idea, but I love the picture and it's almost symmetry.

steven said...

hello margaret, i was a real admirer of mondrian;s work in high-school. i often blew off art assignments and replaced them with work that was inspired by jandinsky, mondrian, stella, you name it!!! i really respect intuition. it seems to arrive through fewer filters!!!! have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hello petra - i thought about suggesting to one other comment that they try standing on their head!!! thanks for the cool funny comment. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hi kathleen, there's something about intuition and listening to the back and forth conversations that talks a lot about what is supposed to happen. be patient with your writing. i was an artists for a long time and i haven't painted a painting - well a decent painting - for a long time. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hey loren thanks. i'm a great admirer of your photography and so i'll gladly accept your compliment. i don't listen to those little voices all the time. i wish i listened more often. i think my life would be that much richer and out of the box. but then again . . . . .steven

BT said...

Weaver and I must have the same brain, as I too find it hard to work out the photo, even enlarged! But I just love that blue and the different colours and textures of the wood. Stunning.

steven said...

now bt you have to click on the picture and make it fill your screen there in the middle - well almost middle you'll see the water line between the dock and its reflection!!!!! good luck. steven

Crafty Green Poet said...

definitely listen to those voices, they're a great resource for writing and have cured my writers block on several occasions and then of course they can lead to wonderful discoveries like yours here...