Petrichor

Natsuko Isaka

When I was young, I stood still whenever I caught that particular smell rising from the earth - petrichor. I would stop playing with friends, walking to school, walking back home. As if hit by a premonition, my downy hair would rustle. Then I would impulsively start running.

Things that are yet to be seen - myself just a step into the future, someone who is dead, time, the stars floating in the sky, life born and gone. All of these overflowed from everyday life.  I held all those things in me until I learned to create a connection between “big” time and the present moment.

Or perhaps I already knew as a child what the connection was. I would touch some clay. The clay would change form. I would draw a line. Each line was a moment that leads into NOW.

I want to be able to see that which is not yet seen.  That journey will engross me until I meet the unseen.