Imprints

They say that for infants,

steady, loving gazes, eye-to-eye,

form the basis for intimacy and

trust and emotional stability as adults;

this gaze of open love leaves a forever imprint.

And what of the earth?

Does she not, too, gaze upon us

desiring us to gaze deeply back,

she, with the eyes of mountains and sunsets

and humid rows of corn in August

and moss as it hangs heavy on the trees

and lakes, frozen over

and dragonflies flitting?

Those of us who grew up gazing

find ourselves forever imprinted, too –

for no matter how many years have passed

or miles we’ve traveled

we know that exact sound of apples growing

or the wild smell of ocean spray

or the texture of the dark blue hills at sunset;

when we return, something within us releases,

that wide arc again resumes its curve,

then completes the circle.

About Meisaan Chan

www.curvingtowardthecenter.wordpress.com