What Gets Away, William Stafford
Meditation
The world is full of things that elude our notice. Sometimes our powers of observation are weak, or we are simply inattentive. And sometimes things hide from us deliberately, as if to have a joke at our expense…as if to say, I am here, but you do not encounter me. Much of nature is designed to attract our attention—the bright plumes, prominent crests, sounds and gestures that cry out, Look at me! But the shyest live richly, unobserved by the conquering army. In our rush to conquer, what are the hidden things we miss? Who are the quiet people, the dimmer stars of the night sky, the aphid running across the leaf petal? They endure in all their grandeur, even if we never see them. Some of them want to be seen.
Todd Breyfogle, Denver, Colorado
