green & grey


As I was bent over in the middle of the pavement in town this afternoon, busy prizing out a grasshopper from between the tile cracks, a pink butterfly in the guise of a young girl stopped in her tracks and gazed longingly at the insect now lying in my hand. I asked her if she wanted to have a closer look, without hesitation she grabbed the huge green object and immediately tore off a leg, by accident. Her mother, for she was not walking the streets alone, warned her to be careful. To which the child replied, oh mummy, it doesn't matter, he's dead he can't feel anything anymore.
Throw it into the grass, her mother suggested, please no, I interjected, I'll take it back home with me and introduce him to some other friends of mine; she, the mother that is, must have doubted my sanity, if only for an instant.
The butterfly reluctantly returned the grasshopper and watched closely as I wrapped him in a bit of cellophane I happened to find at the bottom of my bag.
I asked her name, she all of a sudden became very shy, as children up to a certain age do when confronted with such a personal question, her mother answered in her stead. Well, bye for now Bente, take good care of yourself and I'll look after Grasshopper; we went our separate ways.

walking back home from a friend's house where I had dropped off a really nice marine-blue-almost-black cotton shirt, far too nice to cut up for sewing! and as nobody was home I hung it on the clothes line, immediately it belonged there; as I said I was walking back home on top of the dike when I noticed the church spire in the village across the river, I realised I felt comforted by this sight, how odd the atheist in me commented, like the shirt it belongs and with a sudden recognition said to self: I belong here as well after 17 years. At the bottom of the dike I picked up this half-circle pebble to mark the occasion. 

Comments

you make and see and tell beauty full things all the time. but this is even more, this Telling.
it could be printed on small translucent pieces of paper and handed out to each person on the planet. Saskia's day. maybe then all our days might glow as best they could...and if not, those would have your day for their Heart
Saskia said…
oh what an idea Grace: bits of translucent paper...yes...I'm now thinking about how I could do that

thank you for your words of encouragement, as always they mean a lot to me
Marti said…
Saskia, this post shows the you that I am coming to know and to love. Yes you belong because you have become one with the gifts of this place you call home; you have a reverence that has all to do with the love of nature and the ability to see, appreciate and acknowledge the wondrous gifts that so many do not even realize is at their finger tips and that to me is truly spiritual.
Saskia said…
oh Marti, that is such a kind thing to say, thank you for visiting and leaving this comment
helen said…
Oh Saskia...how I love this post...every word, every image. It has wrapped itself around my heart and makes me happy. Thank you.
Anonymous said…
stories, stories... you are a master.

do you think sites like a church spire and a shirt hanging on a line are so somehow basic in our visual vocabularies that they can create feelings of home?
Saskia said…
Helen and Dee: ah yes the stories the animals that surround me, once I do actually notice them!! offer themselves to me, they are very generous in their sharing;
and yes I would agree certain images mean 'home', depending on what you call home of course

(I mean palm trees and white sandy beaches mean holiday to me, but for some it IS their home)

tungsten

tungsten

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