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The Obstacle, Before the Dawn at Tucker Pond, Salisbury, NH, June 2017, Nikon D600, 19mm, 1/800 sec @ f5, ISO 1250, -0.33 EV, no flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]
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The Obstacle
It floats out there, somewhere.
In my mind? No, farther.
At the edge of dusk-dawn.
Glimpsed, like a threat.
Unwanted, but not to be ignored.
Submerged for one moment, bobbing up the next.
Caught in my mind stuff.
A blemish to be photoshopped out:
not natural, not perfect.
A thorn in my mind.
Salt in my wounded ego.
The sun is rising now. Birds sing.
A small turtle meanders;
head up, head down, breakfast underway.
Mist swirls along a glassy pond
Propelled by warming zephyrs.
A hummingbird flits by, stopping to wonder
about my stillness. Is that bright jacket a flower?
She finds the feeder instead. Two hummers now
flit in and out like passing thoughts.
A subtle wake emerges, as the beaver serpentines on stage,
wondering who is the watcher from afar.
And why are you kneeling in the morning glow?
Almost free now. Flowing with the turtle.
With the beaver. With the hummers nearby.
I look up and Bang! My obstacle is back
like a beaver tail-slap. Right smack in my sight-line.
What just happened?
Was it worth the loss of peace?
The sun now warming my face.
Sunglasses deployed to shield the fusion reactor.
Shivers turn to warmth.
Petals glisten as dew drops fall.
Ahhh. You're back Now.
Don't go back to sleep. You have arrived.
Be my guest. Please stay for a while.
Here is a gift for you - this present moment.
That obstacle you were so fixated on
is just a part of what is.
Like the great heron that stands
in the shallows. Watching. Motionless.
Until startled, it takes flight.
The obstacle is not a "problem" to be solved.
Not a conversation to be rehearsed
over and over; talons grabbing into you
like unexpecting prey.
It just is. Neither good nor bad.
Only thinking, thinking, and
more thinking, makes it so.
Presence brings back the panorama.
The beauty and serenity.
The dance of light. The break of dawn.
The ripples in the stillness as we,
collectively, breathe in and out.
You can see those ripples now.
The sunshine blushing behind clouds.
Ripples shutter glances of sky, water,
and the muddy bottom.
Sunlight teasing now. Please take a little off.
Don’t reveal too much too soon.
Don't spoil the anticipation.
But that is future stuff.
Stepping into the river of time.
But that is future stuff.
Stepping into the river of time.
Instead I see only ripples in the clouds.
Ripples on the water.
Ripples in this moment of now.
And now. And once again.
And now. And once again.
Each one fresh. Reborn. Always unique.
Come join with me. Relaxing into peace.
Let's float with ease
among these spaceless ripples
in this timeless moment
called Now.
