one day, in woods about forty kilometres north of here, i came across some low brush and i noticed
an opening in the brush and so of course i went inside.
memories of being a little boy and finding something very similar flooded my mind.
it's the purest magic.
to hide or to be hidden.
what was especially cool is that you could pass through this tunnel and follow its connection to others. the sun dappled the ground as it passed through little openings in the branches above my head. while beneath my feet, the soft-silvered feathery roots coiled and bent their way around each other.
i used the knowledge to my advantage later in the day while playing a game of manhunt with my class. i waited at one of the exits as one after another my boys popped out blinking into the sunlight only to be "captured"!
beneath the skin-deep beauty
of the surface of this world
in the underbrush
under the evergreen brush
is a world
of labyrinthine
rootbound
complexity
tunnels
that have appeared entirely by chance
and which are used
as byways and secret passageways
from one part of this world
to another
5 comments:
Oh, this reminds me of a summer afternoon. We neighborhood kids were playing around one of the deep ravines in the woods that fed into the bayou and there was a big tree on the edge of the bank. It's root system had been exposed on one side making a sort of cave/hideaway.
I love to be games that involve hiding with children. There are deeply rooted pleasures in games like manhunt and hide-and-seek that surely go back to hunting/gathering days and further.
I love the way you invite us to join you in going "beneath the skin deep beauty of the surface of this world" and share the delight and discoveries you find there.
One of my favorites Steven ..... it's rich and full of mystery.
Always loved tunnels and mysterious places where I could be invisible- or so I thought...Not the brightest child, me. My cousins had a tunnel in their basement that went under the neighborhood for about two miles! The boys went in - I did not.
Lovely. It is such fun to go into the woods. I discover paths made by the animals and little caves where something dwells. Hunting around like this take me back to my inner child.
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