Verbal Description
A landscape image
A thin band of white snow forms the bottom edge of the image. It curves almost undetectably; a slight hill rising on the left. A darker layer of shadows combs the snow before distinguishing itself into trees just above the midsection of the image. The now-apparent forest appears in front of a pale orange-pink sky. Trees are seen in varying heights. Several thin trunks reach from the shadows beyond the top of the image.
A faint orange ball of light relaxes on the shadows just to the left of the image’s center. The sky fades into a textured white cap at the top edge of the photo almost balancing the curved layer of snow below the shadows.
The entire scene blends and blurs in the absence of precise edges. Without distinct boundaries, the images seem as if they are dancing on an invisible breeze—as if the trees themselves were smudged into the fading colors of the morning sky. Or as if the trees themselves were emerging from the faint orange light we have learned to call the sun.
Near the bottom left corner, a blurred figure is visible. A snow-covered roof seems to hover over a double-paned window and blend into the shadows. The right side of this small structure becomes evident after distinguishing the roof and window. A line of small blurred prayer flags hang from the roof’s edge and dance on the invisible breeze.
That morning I learned
truth is kinder
not because I forgot what’s true
but because I felt joy anyway.
The sun simply peered
into the kitchen window
as it had done countless times before
bringing with it a playful palate.
The bold colors dared to defy darkness
in one of those moments without time
I had only read about in books.
Without thought I reached for my camera
unconsciously defying my own dark night.
Don’t think that this is the whole story
for the kindness came later
when the colors faded into the light of day
and I had gone busily on my way.
The kindness came later
when I saw clearly
that timeless moment captured in a photo.
I don’t know how it happened.
God knows I tried to understand.
The camera must have moved in my haste
affecting shutter speed…tweaking aperture?
blah, blah, ahhhhh…
Words lost their meaning
in the clarity of this exquisite blur
I saw the beauty
of how I see
perfectly.
No one will ever
be able to explain
this miracle
offered graciously
in the morning’s kindness.
And no one will ever,
I pray,
be able to silence this knowing.
Sometimes
the kindness comes later.
And sometimes
later is now.
