searchingtoseeThese wilder things
And I will waste my heart on fear no more
I will find a secret bell and make it ring
And let the rest be washed up on the shore
They can’t be tamed, these wilder things
No they can’t be tamed, these wilder things
From “These Wilder Things” (album of the same name) by Ruth Moody
***
It was like these wilder things grew wilder
and more serious
sparkling in their electric world
relaxed in their sun-drenched skin
inhabiting that sweet groove
which skates between joy and recklessness
polished granite
a surface to flip, skim and fly
a tarnished penny
carelessly tossed aside
They felt safe to tumble freely in their imaginations
shrugging off the scrapes and the bruises
(I envied them that)
laughing and shrieking with abandon
they found solace conspiring in clandestine business
bowed heads sharing furtive words
A pavement is a stage for drama
dodging yawning caverns
molten lava traps
they rustle and pop around me noisily like static
enticing me to act in their superstitious fantasy
but I am already seated for the show
Like vines they grew
plasticine limbs stretching longer
bones denser
and their toes tiptoe cautiously
around the confines of our adult lives
sparrows snatching at stray breadcrumbs
but all words to them are pingy, elastic
just like them
so they play and stretch and tease
until their world becomes a little bigger
a little wider
a little taller
to accommodate them
But there were also dreams which were darker than before
and they found to their surprise that it was possible to hate, as well as love;
to feel shame as well as pride,
these wilder things
***
© images and content Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2013
searchingtosee 
Outstanding set. Very moving.
thank you, Chris
Wonderful.
thanks!
Fantastic. Beautifully expressed in so many ways.
You are a keen and loving audience for the wild things.
thanks Karen!
The long, curious days of childhood so beautifully expressed!
curious is a perfect word… thanks!
Moving indeed.
thanks… came straight from the heart, this one
Liked both the poem and the pictures.
thank you, Shimon
Good stuff, Emily!
thanks, Steve!
So full of feeling and beautiful, natural light.
oh I’m glad you thought so! Thanks!
and you are catching so many of those once upon a times . . . . .
I’m trying! 🙂
Oh, Emily this is so wonderful !! Thank you
thank you, Carla!
I so admire your ability to work as well with words as you so with images – or is it the other way around? Only you know! 😉
In any case, whoever these children are, they are very lucky to have this reflection, made by a sensitive adult, on their lives at this moment in time. I hope you print this post, so it doesn’t get lost in the either!
well it works both ways… sometimes the images come first, and sometimes the words. I hope that I will get a chance to show them this when they are a bit older!