the crone

So, I went for a walk, and I stood to watch the river as it slid past.

The sunshine made the water’s surface a mass of glinting white lines and triangles of light. Moving. Animated.

Shining gulls over smooth green glass.

I stared, mesmerised by the changing surface.

Then I got the sudden vivid impression, the absolute awareness that

IT WAS NOT THE RIVER WATER THAT WAS FLOWING PAST
BUT THE BANKS THAT WERE MOVING.

The more I looked, the more I could see how it was the river banks that were rushing along. Green turfed sides surging ever onwards, creating a rippling wake on the surface of the water.

I felt disorientated.

As if I was suddenly standing on the moving floor of a funfair ride.

I actually felt the urge to grip on to a nearby tree, to stop myself falling off this crazy earth ride.

It was as if I could suddenly see through the charade:

Perhaps the river water is always still.

Perhaps it is the earth that always moves.

And what we perceive is a visual joke that never stops.

Which reminded me: Perception is everything.