Introspective Lenses 4 Life

Perspective, Perception, and Interpretation
A photograph is to the eyes what words are to an experience.

Recently, while reviewing some photographs, my senses drifted into the rainforest of Volcán Rincón de la Vieja National Park, Costa Rica, where I immersed myself again.

Hiking within the park,
mesmerized by haunting.
Enchantments lurking near.
Tiptoe slowly, footsteps
dance around obstacles.

Subtle voices whisper
throughout the overgrowth.
Princess Curabanda.
Tortured cries to healing
gifts of comfort and peace.

Upon volcanic slopes,
be still and listen well.
In nature’s paradise.
Sounds of past and present
activate all senses.

Barely discernible
through forest entanglements,
branches, leaves, suspended grasses
hanging o’er warm, rushing waters.
A bridge from ages past,
in parallel remains.

Steam seeps.
Like ghostly shadows
rising.

A mild sulfuric odour
zigzagging.
Through my nostrils,
emanating.

My experience in Rincón, like all my immersive excursions into nature, stimulates introspective reflections.
Through sights, sounds, touch, and smell intermingling, I contemplate.

Warning signs, heed or not.
Bubbling mud and hot springs.
Vines, leaves, s-shaped roots.
Plants, drizzling rain, rushing waters.
Peace. Oh, the peace!
Outward perspective, inward perceptions.

Intuition, instinct, heed or not.
Frustrations boiling, some bursting through the thickness of a moment.
Thoughts and feelings weaving.
Identity, tears, floodgates of emotion.
Peace. Oh, the peace.
It is me. Interpretation: a complex ecosystem.

So much going on within,
forces from without,
bridges over waters,
mountainous warmth,
warning signs
and safety on a well-marked path.

Volcanic ecosystems inside human form.

Thoughts?

Perspectives, perceptions, and interpretations.

A photograph is to the eyes what words are to an experience.
A photograph is to the eyes what feelings are to an individual.

© Vicki Nicholls 2025