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Wednesday 6 July 2011

A Walk in the Park

A public space     a working space      one that earns its keep
herds of cow and deer                 
hard clods of earth      hide beneath the grass      turning ankles
elsewhere
         soft clogging soil                 
                           bog-traps feet.


A man approaches      walking several dogs.
One dog disappears
                  into the undergrowth
smells            something I can't smell
hears             something I can't hear
                  and doubtless now                                    sees              something I can't see

The man's a long leash-length from me
                                     calls
                                     gets no response

Different landscapes
his and mine on one hand        and the dogs

Their landscapes telescoped with ours.


We are in need of something
                           a technology      
                           an inspiration
                           a moment of pure genius

that will                  extend the landscape's scope
unroll
      the whole
               in one exposure
                              never seen before


see nature's whole-frame collage
                                how
a million mini-landscapes go to make
the picture in the frame:
                         fragments of cloth
                         the bits and bobs                 
                         the photographs
                         and cuttings cut from lives 
                                                    (not ours).



Reappearing from a clump of seeding bracken
something limp and bloodied hanging from its jaws
too far away for me to see      rat       rabbit                 
what it is
          the dog appears

to have re-entered 
                  our known landscape.
                                     Hardly!

Landscape is defined          not by the sensed
                              but by the sensing
                              not by surroundings
                              but by our neural architecture


If rat      or rabbit      happened to have been
last of its kind
                it would have been a landscape lost for ever.

Tomorrow landscapes - his and ours - will show a change.

The dog's will still be sound
                             ours will have shrunk again
                             parts replaced or simply lost.


In every frame      there are as many landscapes
as creatures living there.

If we can but pull out the scope to see it in its full extent.
Look through the scope...
                        who knows what might be seen?


10 comments:

Rachel Green said...

Nicely done, sir.

I particularly liked Landscape is defined ...by our neural architecture

Tabor said...

The physical architecture of this poem is rewarding. I like the flow and I also like what it says. So true, all seen through our own eyes.

CiCi said...

Who knows indeed. If we could have the eyes to see the whole picture, the entwining of all, including us.

Jim Murdoch said...

Good piece. I agree with Leatherdykeuk: those are definitely the key lines in the poem.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I do think we all see the landscape in a different way Dave - that is what makes it so interesting.

L. Edgar Otto said...

Brilliant!

ThePeSla

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Yes.There are infinite landscapes. I totally agree.
How marvellously clear it was this for Blake who looked for the same territories you are visiting with this poem when he said: "if the doors of perception were opened..."

Windsmoke. said...

A walk through the infinite landscape with our eyes enhanced by technology :-).

Isabel Doyle said...

I enjoyed your dog walking view of the world and some ...

Dave King said...

Leatherdykeuk
Thanks, much appreciate the info'.

Tabor
Interesting and useful to know. Many thanks.

TechnoBabe
I'd just finished this when I picked up a newspaper and read of the latest "discoveries" re dark material and dark energy. It was saying that all we can detect with our senses and our instruments accounts for less than 5% of what is around us.

Jim
Again, that's interesting to hear. I didn't quite see it that way when I wrote the poem, but I'm beginning to. Thanks for the thought.

The Weaver of Grass
Yes, I fully agree - and how different must it look to other creatures with different equipment!

ThePeSla
A warm welcome to you, and many thanks for leaving a comment.

Tommaso
Absolutely. And the doors that are neer fully open are in any case only partial doors.

Windsmoke
Thanks, yes - but only slightly enhanced.

Isabel
Thanks Isabel - if only we could talk to the dog!