Unseen to the Naked Eye

In the prelude to a storm,
I watch the sky bruise,
hear thunder introduce
lightning in a breath

before it pirouettes across the sky.
As the show fades into the distance,
ghosts appear in a pale fluttering
of moths filling the garden with clouds.

Unseen to the naked eye,
in the grass or in the sky,
is momentum and motion,
the change in position

of particles and atoms:
everything in the universe is dancing!

Kim M. Russell, 7th August 2018

Image result for ghost moths dancing
Clouds of moths after a storm – image found on independent.co.uk

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Unseen Things, also linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform

Jill is hosting Poetics this week and asks us to imagine that we can see unseen things. She wants us to let your poetic muses (another of those unseen things) inspire our writing and asks what we would discover if we could see time, the workings of angels, or a child’s imagination, considering things whose existence is certain but that we cannot see. I love the example she has given, ‘Who Has Seen the Wind?’ by Christina Rossetti, a poem I learned at junior school.

67 thoughts on “Unseen to the Naked Eye”

  7. Yup–nothing is stagnant, even decay is a form of motion. I dig it. As Anthony Quinn said as Zorba, “Dance, did you say dance, boss? “

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  16. Kim, this is lovely and truly makes the reader consider the unseen and unknown behind the visible and sounds. Everything moving together, whether we know it or not. And the rhythm of your poem does indeed make the who piece dance!

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  19. Even the little critters on Earth know when it is time to dance, while we humans moan about the rain and even if it is too hot or cold rather than relish the variation and good each does. I think we must be aliens the way we react to the conditions that guarantee our survival!

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  23. the introduction stanza is so word perfect Kim – it really is sublime and so beautiful 🙂

    and the suite, the symphony of the storm and its ending, are equally beautiful …. you’ve really captured essence of storm here, as well as the wonders of the moths …. this doesn’t happen all too often, but when they suddenly appear in massive swathes afterwards, it really is quite something ….

    lovely poem Kim 🙂

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  28. kaykuala

    of particles and atoms:
    everything in the universe is dancing!

    There are fun and joys that may miss one’s presence and attention. It is all attributed to awareness

    Hank

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  31. Absolutely stunning! I love that image of the sky bruising before and during the storm….it is SOOOO true. Have never thought of it that way….now I’m sure the next time the sky turns dark previewing a storm coming, I will think of it in exactly these terms!

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