Every day on the beach

I vow to see 

               hear

               smell

               feel

Something new. 

And like that rare resolution

That comes true

Each day something is revealed.

It takes patience 

              an open heart

              the time to spend more than a glance

            the wisdom to know that not everything

             will be revealed.

            Not right here, this moment anyway.

All the creatures on our planet 

Live in our own Unwelt.

The limitations and magic of our senses.

We are blinder than some birds

Deafer than many mammals

Less social than most ants

Less of a genetic soup than a tiny water flea.

And many of us despite our abilities

Are deadened to the world around us.

Just last week, I saw a dark grey rock at the beach

Still wet from high tide

Unremarkable. I had seen it many times before. 

As I bent over for a better look, I saw it covered in tiny creatures.

Coming closer, I saw these tiny six-paneled crustaceans opened for feeding.

Cemented to their home with nature’s strongest cement. 

Drawing closer still, I found a chorus of barnacles.

Was that the Hallelujah Chorus they were singing? 

Or maybe Ode to Joy?

There are so many choruses we never hear

So many sunsets we simply can’t see

We’d better pay attention before it all escapes us.