Wednesday, November 2, 2011

slide


each step upwards into the sky a test
each footfall's hollow metallic ringing
like bells marking an ascension

and standing at the top
with the wind catching in my hair and my eyes
i stop long enough
to see this place
the you
of this moment
expanding

no need to return to earth
for now

i was listening to "indian summer" by riceboy sleeps

14 comments:

Ruth said...

There is such a different point of view from down here, looking up into the sky, and being up at the top, looking down. Thanks for the reminder that I need to stop long enough in the moments of others to see what they see (or at least something of it).

JJ Roa Rodriguez said...

Being atop will give us a good view of what is happening. But such a good feeling when you are on the same ground with others. Love this post Sir Steven!

JJRod'z

John Romeo Alpha said...

It appears so protected up there, in between the safety bars, just before you take the big slide.

Reya Mellicker said...

Indeed. The wind is great up here!

steven said...

ruth this is the top of one of the slides at the school i teach at. i watch the little weebles climb up it and stand at the top and sometimes they look around and i remember that moment so well of seeing so far and feeling the tugging of the wind and the very real need to return to earth where somehow things seemed more stable. steven

steven said...

jj - i agree. i used to worry so much about vantage point and perspective and being on top and all of that is just a chimera. it really is. it's more about being exactly where yuou are right now. in this moment. steven

steven said...

john romeo alpha - you're so right! i watche d aguy (for a buck) ride his road bike down a slide twice this size and i relaized more than ever just how much i crave "safety" and then too the price that i pay for letting that be my norm! steven

steven said...

reya - look at you and i with our chins resting on our hands!!!! the wind is great!! steven

R. Burnett Baker said...

Neat! I remember the tallest slides on the playground, and that momentary feeling, beginning the descent, that this was filled with danger! But we always made it to the hollowed out dirt below.

Steven, your header is beautiful...from your lens??? That is a greeting card waiting to be sent!

Rick

steven said...

hi rick! the header was taken by me a few days ago. i walked across the frost-covered front lawn to a bed i built a few years ago and this sight was waiting for me to see it and wow did it ever come through!!! steven

Reya Mellicker said...

I love our profile pics. We look like quite the pair!

steven said...

ha reya!!!! i thought so / think so too. steven

Valerianna said...

The image is so interesting - red-orange stripes on a blue-gray sky. I wonder if you played around with it by zooming in on just the pipes - I bet it would be a cool abstraction. Well, even this on is, great color and rhythm. And in the words, I'm drawn to the "bells marking the ascension" and most especially, "no need to return to earth for now"... oh yes, how I go there....

steven said...

valerianna - it's the very top of the slide at my school which is used by the little kids. i took the picture on a day when a storm was blowing in from the west. i was on "yard duty" maing sure the very little weebles were safe!!! like your thoughts around abstraction. steven