This is a still of the mother looking at her son after he hands her the tongs. The expression on her face simply defies description. There is gratitude for the tongs, unmistakable pride and, a wistful acknowledgement of the painful fact that she and her son, though drawn closer through his act of concern and kindness, are also drifting apart in subtle ways because of it. It is her struggle to feed him while he sits with a book (that is incomprehensible to her) that, ironically, is pushing him irrevocably towards a future and a world of which she knows nothing and cannot be a part.

A classic example of the iambic meter is Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Jabberwocky’.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

And so, to mitigate the woeful inadequacy of good English poetry about the sheep, what follows is:

An Ode to Sheep (In Iambic Tetrameter)

A sheep is quite a lovely pet

To have around the home all day.

It never will get in your way

With niggling worries for the vet.

A sheep is quite a quiet chap.

He’s not a whining, grunting hog,

Or like the growling, barking dog

That bores you with its yippety-yap.

A very useful beast to keep;

Gives bales of fluffy, snow-white wool.

And when the weather’s somewhat cool

You will be grateful for your sheep.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_tetrameter

Imagine a particularly languid afternoon of wasteful indulgence spent admiring the steady circles of your ceiling fan, or the rhythmic tick-tock of the wall-clock. And then, you realize that there is something awe-inspiring about the motion of the fan or the rhythm of the clock. A moment of epiphany.

“A frozen moment when everyone sees what is at the end of the fork” (~ Burroughs)

Think of this, therefore, as an expression as well. Or an ode. Think of it as a memory.. a record.. a log.. a reminder.

Think of this as an attempt..

“..to pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple.. to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

~ The End of Imagination, Arundhati Roy