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.
