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Thursday 16 February 2012

a miracle

Few miracles are meant for human eyes.
We speak of miracle and point. We tag it so,
but what we tag is but a mise-en-scène.
Heart-stopping though it is, the miracle
remains where it belongs: backstage.

Most miracles are shy. Invisible. You see
but ripples from them in our time and space.
We recognise them in the wonder that we feel.
Just think of when you wake and feel yourself alive:
you know you've come back from a mini death.
You are sensing the dimensions of a miracle.

The growing child does not display
the way a billion axons meet
their dendrites in the dark.
There is no check list, manual
or precedent. The growing child does this,
his milieu is his guide. We see
the consequences written large
in how she grows, moves, talks. The work
is underground, like roots in soil.
New lines are draw, new circuits laid,
the stop-gaps are dismantled constantly.
As each connection breaks or is remade
another miracle is chalked up on the board outside.
We clap our hands and rightly praise the growing child.
......................................
This is a Poetry Jam submission. The task was simply to write a poem about a miracle.

14 comments:

Ray Sharp said...

our lives and our ability to think and feel, our spark of consciousness, indeed is miraculous.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

It's also that this really aged computer of mine after moments of near death springs to life like now and works fast.

But that's a very visible miracle. Your line about their fundamental invisibility has really sparkled for me, the rest of the poem is again a feat to be read and reread.

And how true that work for the growing child is underground.

I would add: miracles are only for those who can see them.
Rather obvious but, I feel, all the same worth underlining.

ds said...

Yes, children are miracles. Thank you.

JeannetteLS said...

I hadn't thought of miracles that way. We see their manifestations. The work goes on unseen. I Like that. A lot. And a child may be the most wondrous of all--leastwise to our species.

I wonder whether a cat or dog sense the miracles, when their kittens and puppies are suddenly there?

Never mind. Clearly I need my meds...

How I love it when you make me think.

Kat Mortensen said...

Interesting how you use the word, "tag" which today is linked with social media and connecting others to a thought or idea. We "tag" when we want to "share" a video, or a news item - minor miracles get "tagged" all the time in this sense.

I can't help but think of the un-dead in "Dracula" when you reference that miracle of waking up to find oneself alive. (I'll get past these references soon - on to "The Woman in White"!)

Your last line is filled with glee!

Ygraine said...

The depth of understanding in this wonderful poem is truly awe-inspiring to me.
There are so many miracles happening every single day of our lives, yet we all too often fail to recognise them.
Thank you so much for opening my eyes, Dave :)

Enchanted Oak said...

What a marvelous poem, Dave! So authoritatively drawn, from the universal, to the personal, to the specific miracle of the child's growing brain. These lines are spectacular:

"The growing child does not display
the way a billion axons meet
their dendrites in the dark."

Your whole poem feels that same way, strong, intriguing, uniquely said.

booguloo said...

Nicely done.

Helen said...

My children and grandchildren are miracles ... you knew that of course!

Mary said...

Thanks, Dave, for writing to Poetry Jam. I do think you are right. Few miracles ARE meant for human eyes. I truly DO wonder about them today. Do you believe that they happen yet still, Dave? I so want to.

Brian Miller said...

smiles...children truly are miracles...and def a strong write to back it...

haricot said...

If we could see our lives are miracles, how it would be wonderful. Thank you for your magical words.

Dave King said...

Ray
Hi. A warm welcome to my blog and my thanks for your comment.

Tommaso
Yes I do agree with your final point. I think we are saying the same thing in different ways. Always good to have your thoughts. Many thanks.

ds
Absolutely. And my thanks to you for the comment.

Jeanette
I think you have a talking - or at very least, a thinking - point there. I've often wondered how animals react mentally to something completely outside their experience. Do they wonder about it? If not like us, then in some other way?

Kat
I've always used "tag" to mean "name". I still do despite it's other, more widely spread use. Funny though, I don't use "gay" in its old sense any more...

Ygraine
You are right about there being so many miracles. They happen all around us, all the time. Thanks.

Enchanted Oak
Thank you so much for this very supportive comment. Such comments really do mean a lot.

booguloo
Thank you. Always good to have your reactions.

The Elephant's Child
Thanks for saying. Good to have you visiting.

Helen
I did, I did, I did! Thanks.

Brian
Yup, it's a smiley subject all right.

haricot
Thank you for that great thought.

Peggy said...

I am enjoying all the different kinds of miracles the poets at Poetry Jam have written about. And a growing child really is miraculous. Thanks for the reminder.