I think sometimes we are
to make of ourselves a lake
that mirrors the blue.
An eye turned inwards in introspection
can draw us further from the truth,
the light.
When instead we were made to rise
above the murky waters,
the dark cold depths,
to where the clouds make their patterns
in the sky,
transpose them upon the water’s surface.
We were never meant to see ourselves alone
entirely,
unless in order to discern our connectedness.
A water drop, though it might reflect
the colours of the whole,
needs its neighbours to make a bow in the sky.
Just as a lake,
moving in unison its fluid body,
stills itself to reflect the stars,
the dancing patterns of a cloud,
the setting sun,
peak of mountain.
So I think we too,
to slake our endless longings,
and soothe our churning insides,
might lay ourselves down flat
and smooth,
open our eyes to the sun,
make of ourselves prisms
imaging the whole.
Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
August 2021
Living Tree Poetry 