What do you see in the ice pool? I am often distracted by what’s around me when I walk my dogs. This frozen puddle caught my eye a few years ago so I captured it on film wondering if I could make a story out of it. Eventually, I used it in an early writing prompt on the Hysteria Writing Competition website.
I had to read this twice to fully understand the impact it had on me, and it was when I realised that you had described the Chinese zodiac sign of the water tiger so beautifully that it landed.
It's that fascination with what it means Lesley - after all there is a whole world waiting to be discovered in that puddle. I was on a walk today and we were looking at lichen on a stone and I was reminded of Horton and the Who's by Dr Seuss!
Wow Kate. Thank you so much. I love that you love it! I live near the sea too, in Dorset, and I totally get what you’re saying. When my granddaughter was small we’d take her to the beach, and the nearer she got to the ocean, the more energised she became. It wasn’t excitement - it was like it revitalised her - and she now lives on the Oregon coast and has always had an affinity with the sea. It definitely has magical powers. x
In a parallel universe
this is a curiosity
labelled ‘H2O.’
It’s frozen in time, preserved
so other civilisations
will heed warnings
about their planet’s demise
before it’s too late.
Thank you Sarah. I couldn’t manage the optimism of Lesley’s piece, and hope I’m wrong!
Sorry Kate! Senior moment! Only just noticed I called you Sarah. Mea culpa
Tiger passing through the forest,
the Water Tiger swims the
unknown rivers, following
the spirit of flow.
The gentler of her kind,
she learns from the
rain-song sung among
the leaves
to trust the passing
nature of single drops,
to the change-spirit
of the shallows
and the deeps, and
the mighty falls where
river crashes droplets
back to air
Tiger passing through the forest
is the gentle solitary soul,
intent upon her own slow
mysterious road.
I had to read this twice to fully understand the impact it had on me, and it was when I realised that you had described the Chinese zodiac sign of the water tiger so beautifully that it landed.
Thanks Linda... and yes I am a Water Tiger.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who takes pictures of puddles - frozen and otherwise. :)
It's that fascination with what it means Lesley - after all there is a whole world waiting to be discovered in that puddle. I was on a walk today and we were looking at lichen on a stone and I was reminded of Horton and the Who's by Dr Seuss!
I am the water spirit
Your bodies and the earth
The same portions are water
I grow every living plant
And your son and your daughter
I am Moisture. Tears. Sweat.
Rain. Waves. Ice.
Deluges and sea swells
Your predictions imprecise
You need me to sustain life
But I can devastate and drown
I may feed your crops today
Or I may flood your town
I am crystalline beauty
The awe of ice and snow
Thirst quenching and cooling
How I’m here you still don’t know
You rely on me for living
I shape your coasts and land
But you should never trust me
I have the upper hand
You can bless or curse me
You can drink and you can bathe
But you’re never really sure
How I might behave
My internal structure changes
With music and with prayer
Ever a mystery to you
Just be grateful that I’m there
Give thanks for my succour
And for your travel on my face
And remember that my presence
May have come from outer space
Penny this is so evocative of the nature of water, and also a timely reminder that nature always wins!
A wonderful tribute to water in her many guises....and our complicated relationship with her.
Wow Kate. Thank you so much. I love that you love it! I live near the sea too, in Dorset, and I totally get what you’re saying. When my granddaughter was small we’d take her to the beach, and the nearer she got to the ocean, the more energised she became. It wasn’t excitement - it was like it revitalised her - and she now lives on the Oregon coast and has always had an affinity with the sea. It definitely has magical powers. x