23 January 2006

Gaze on the Tree of Life

nonliving objects
on the Tree of Life
(Berkeley's "furniture of the world")
trace strict vertical paths
normally
unless moved by a living agent

human branches
twine among stationary ensembles
of objects
(settings, or locales)
growing more familiar
with each visit




at every point in time
a human branch
may have its eyes
open or closed

if open
they project a vector
in a given direction
normally halting
on a target object

as we trace
the branch's path
this gaze
flicks from target to target

with familiar settings
requiring less gazing
than unfamiliar ones




(flickr supports geotagging
for latitude and longitude
but has it anticipated tagging also
the direction the camera was pointing?)

i've noticed
when i think about a locale
my image of that locale
implies a point of view
not just in space, oddly
but sometimes also
a moment in time
when that locale
imprinted
for no obvious reason