The Arrow Lattice

This poem is inspired by the engraved pieces of ochre discovered at the Blombos caves situated on the Southern Cape coast. These pieces are dated to be about 75 000 years old and regarded as the oldest known art work and a clear sign that the people from Middle Stone Age  were functioning  and behaving cognitively in a modern and sophisticated way. Thanks to Simon Bannister who introduced me to this remarkable piece of history and initiating the process to engage poetically with the markings of the ancients. (The title of the poem is Simon's creation)

http://simontothemax.blogspot.com/2011/09/mark-of-ancients.html

photo sourced from www.chrisknight.co.uk

 photo taken of the initial ideas of Simon Bannister's The Arrow Lattice

The Arrow Lattice

I look intently through

the Arrow Lattice

I

I see a thirst for line and movement

I

I

I see the first stirrings of a restless and

craving mind setting civilization's imagination aflame

I

I

I

I see the velocity of time

I see a hunger for rhythm and rhyme

I

I

I

I

i see the hand made to order and geometrize

i see the philosophies of the old and wise

I

I

I

I

I

I see the scribblings of an absent mind

i see the sweat of the daily grind

I

I

I

I

I

I

i see the whetting of the arrow

i see the net capturing freedom and flow

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

i see a species searching frantically for the satiation of their fears

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

i see a confrontation with loss

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I see a caged-in wildness

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

i see a lonely species

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

unravelling

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

yet

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

when i stand further i see

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

a window

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

a bridge

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

a language

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

a beauty

I

I

I

I

I

I

a togetherness

I

I

I

I

I

a conncectedness

I

I

I

I

I see the thoughtfulness of an involved mind

I

I

I

i see the integration of wonderment and order,

genius and desire

I

I

i see an aesthetic carved in awed respect for the gift of earth

I

i see

the
shaping
of

a
heart

i see    the      expansion         of            the                  universe