The Apparent

Painting by G. Edward McKay


The Apparent


When I say transparency,
I don't mean seeing through.
I mean the way a symbol is made
when an X is drawn over O.
As the world moves when it is named.
In the sense
of truth by consciousness,
which we translate as opposites.
The space we breathe
is also called distance.
Presence gives.
Absence allows and calls,
until Presence holds the invisible,
weeping.
Transparent in the way
the heart sees old leaves.
As we become more like the hills
by feeling.
I mean permanence.
As when the deer and I
regard each other.
Ah, there was no fear then.
When she went with her young
from the meadow back into
the nearly night of the woods,
it was because the rain came down
suddenly harder.

Linda Gregg

Posted over on Poets.Org