The deep shallows

Wind blows cloud topped trees
colorlessly reflected
in a rain puddle

I'm becoming more me, everyday. My father told me about coming home early one day, and driving past me as I walked home from school. I didn't notice him: I was busy staring into a rain puddle. Dad says he pulled over and watched me, books on my back, hunkered down over the puddle, just staring. I reached down and touched the puddle, pulled my hand back, and just kept looking. He didn't disturb me; he drove home.

I recall being fascinated with puddles as a young boy, but for a long time I'd forgotten why. I see them again, now, and lose myself in them as I once did. Plant yourself at the edge of a puddle, and look through it at the mirror sky. Go ahead, do it! My description that follows is dry and void compared with the true experience.

The puddle is a mere fraction of an inch deep, yet it can reveal an infinite space beyond. You can look at its surface and see ripples, you can look into it and see the sidewalk, or you can look through it to the topsy turvy world reflected in its depths. The "real" world is the same in all cases... but we can change our perception to show us what we are willing to see.

How far do we see, when we look towards each other? Do we go beyond the surface? Isn't the true nature of reality revealed to us in something as simple as the world reflected in a puddle?