Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bearded Wood Sage


"The term pareidolia (pronounced /pæraɪˈdoʊliə/) describes a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse. The word comes from the Greek para- —"beside", "with" or "alongside...)—and eidolon—"image" (the diminutive of eidos—"image", "form", "shape.")


Gramps could take 'pitchers'
all day with his new
Kodak camera.

He even snuck up on Gramma
and took a pitcher
of her sleepin with her mouth open.

Every week-end
Gramps would take me to the woods
to search for 'crazy shots.'

That's what he called em.
He'd take pitchers of the strangest
things:

like tree bark or a leaf that reminded him
of Abraham Lincoln.
I often thought that Gramps was drinkin

especially when he got down
on all fours and found
that dead tree limb.

Why he grinned wider than a china plate.
"Take a look at this wormspeak," he said.
"undeciphered messages."...

Then Gramps was off again.
Every season we'd traipse
through the forest,

cameras in hand, and when
I'd yell out "Oh look!-
Gramps would come a runnin."

The day I discovered
the Bearded Wood Sage,
Gramps wasn't around any more.

But if he was,
I knew he'd say,
"Look what Dougie's found!"

c. Douglas Fireman

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the comments on my drawing of the pencil for EDM. And thanks for teaching me a new word. I had no idea what the term meant until I came to your blog(s). I do this all the time... have since I was a kid. Drives my husband nuts because he just can't see what I see.

    Your photographs are stunning. And while I am not typically a huge poetry fan, yours I like and actually get!

    Looking forward to future postings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Barb/Isolde.

    Glad you like my pics and poems.
    Thanks mucho for your comments.
    When you have a chance, check out
    some of my recent drawings at:

    http://somefavoritecollectibles.blogspot.com/

    Cheers, Doug

    ReplyDelete