Subtlety is precious

Subtle

What a beautiful word

And I miss it

Like my fathers wink

And the wrinkles that preceded a droll reply

Rippling across his forehead

I miss it like my mother’s quirky quips

As she stirred the custard

One foot to knee bent legged like a yogi

Balancing

The art of saying one thing and meaning another entirely

In a smiling sort of way

I miss it like the way the wind lifts

Just before a storm

Bringing the scent of rain

And the way the season changes

And you know there is no going back to winter

Spring just occurs one morning

No set date

But you can take it to the bank

There will be no further frosts because that’s that

I miss it like the hint of aftershave

A waft of perfume

I miss it like the shared laughter

In a best mates gaze

That we don’t let out

So we stare at the floor instead

Because we know we can’t behave

I miss it like the smell of house hold cooking

On a run through town

I miss it like the slide of child’s eyes

When they’re being shy

The quiet things that could pass you by

When you’re busy

But if you miss it

You don’t feel like you’re living

Subtlety

Takes presence

Focus

Attention

And it’s good for me

I only just realised it was missing

With all this busy

So I’m stopping

Just

For a minute

To listen

For the soft cats tail stroke

Of subtlety

Take note

Before it’s gone and I’m standing here in the midst of all my head full of noise wondering

Where did all that precious subtlety go?

*talking with a friend about subtlety this evening. It made me yearn for simpler times and then I realised, time is still simple, I just had to be present enough to notice it.

23 thoughts on “Subtlety is precious

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