“I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only: they are capable of moving greater things.”
― Natsume Soseki, Kokoro
CAVE PAINTING
From the hallway
I watch my godson
take his favorite marker
and cover his father's white wall
in shades of iridescent pink.
Being the adult, I step in
and point out the flaw
in his prepubescent logic—
his face falls
and whatever light was left
in his innocent hazel eyes
flickers and disappears
and standing there
arms crossed,
I feel like a fool.
He was only doing
what any young boy should.
He saw a blank space
and filled it with beauty,
doing what humans have
always done—
scrawled on cave walls
because empty stone
was made for filling.
If I'd known better
I'd've sat by his side,
found my favorite green,
and drawn on the wall
all my favorite things.