Mum often laughs at me because high up on the list of things I look for in a potential partner is a love of books. She sees this as a minor thing, something that I am too finicky about but I don’t think she understands that really, it’s not about how much you read but how you see.
It’s about a way that you view the world. A certain angle of the lens, a tinted filter in your minds eye. So many people are preoccupied with the mundane - every day life, one foot in front of the other, just keeping on moving - others are preoccupied with not being preoccupied with the mundane - I won’t be one of those robots, I’m not like the rest, I am above all that - and they miss something special. Because to appreciate, to really see, that takes a particular skewed take on the day to day.
There is no mundane. Life is a series of senses, experiences, fleeting moments, stuck together with spit and sawdust, nothing more. A shared joke, a reassuring touch, a fleeting smile. If you are not paying attention, it is possible to sail through these not really noticing them and to be completely happy. However, I think it is the skill of a great writer to take something ‘mundane’ and pull it to pieces, finding out which interactions become motivations, which glances hold a story of biblical proportion and which flutter of a butterfly wing triggers a series of events that culminate in an explosion of activity.
Stephen King is one of my favorite writers and I think he successfully encapsulates these qualities in his reflections of boyhood throughout his work. 'IT' is a fantastic horror, but the parts I read again and go dog eared are the parts where he details the relationships of a group of Maine kids throughout an unusual summer. He notes details about how they spent their lazy summer days that are so vivid, when I first read the book at 15, despite Pennywise, I wanted to go and join those characters.
When everything around is tumultuous and incessant, I often find myself too caught up the excitement sometimes to slow down and I think that is why I look for more introspective qualities in a partner. Someone who has the 'sight' of a writer and a reader, the ability to sit and withdraw from the craziness and the seconds tick away watching the beauty in normality. When I’m with someone so calm and stoic, I can latch onto that (once I'm over my initial babbling nerves) and love the silence and the enjoy the stillness.
So now I’ve explained it - no more laughing Mum!! ;-)
The Sight of You.
On first sight, my heart legs it like an Olympian waiting for the pistol.On first sight, my mouth dries out like the Sahara at high sun.On first sight, my palms dampen like the sponge on a Post Office desk.On first sight, my cheeks burn like a ginger kid in the sun.On first sight, I am lost and found in the same moment.
On second sight the heart stills, beating fading.On second sight lips yearn, desire coursing.On second sight palm ever aching for a partner.On second sight cheeks blaze with a different fireOn second sight there is only one thing to be seen.
On third sight, my world is a beach, recently deserted.On third sight, my world is a garden, empty of all but the birds.On third sight, my world is a brook, slipping lazily by.On third sight, my world is a moment entwined, gazing into deep eyes.On third sight, my world is you.Thanks for reading.
L x
