Things Shadows Leave Behind
(Chasing Butterflies at Dawn)
Inside morning creases of sunlight and water is the glisten A convergence. A spontaneous act. An unconscious, involuntary sparkle. Crafted from things shadows leave behind. From inside those things a dirt-digger crawls cautiously upward. Training intention to bend toward blue, the creature takes note. There is a pause. a breath. a memory. (a loss?) Pretending not to be hurt by disappearing things, the creature wonders in whispers. “Where are the butterflies?” “Where are the butterflies!?!” When creatures bend toward blue new things are noticed. Things, too, are left behind. When creatures bend toward blue, their effort of will makes new poetry possible. When creatures bend toward blue, creative intelligence sets intention. blends harmony. crafts reconciliation. Acts of reconciliation are sometimes needed. Certain memories leave dark traces. Old shadows cause a false estimation Told as fable, they feel incapable of attaching to light. They become inherited stories tethered to only one concern. Tethered to the act of teetering. The act of teetering on edges. It is estimated to be enough, until… Until a grifting flap of wind bends a single hair on the arm. Attention magnetized toward unexpected notions of beauty. A twitch. A unifier. A curious idea. Butterflies! Away from dark traces, toward a fastidious flick of horizon, Wonder emboldens our creaturely bend toward blue. It is enough. Wonder is enough to transform any grifting flap of wind into velocity. The creative tension of lifting found beyond the chrysalis crucible edge. Giving purpose to wind. Leaving old shadows behind.
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Theo Edmonds, Culture Futurist® & Founder, Creativity America | Bridging Creative Industries and Brain Science with Future of Work & Wondervation®
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