the observer effect

Behavioral scientists have proven that people act more ethically when they believe they are being watched. In one study, students gave to an honor system kitty for coffee twice as often when a set of eyes was illustrated on the sign requesting a contribution.

cherry blossoms
the monk primes
his alms bowl

Understanding how to direct human behavior by perceived observation pre-dates psychology, as the author of Hebrews 4:13 knew: And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render account. The all-seeing eye is represented in religions as diverse as ancient Egyptian polytheism, Buddhism, and Christianity. It even appears on US currency.

if there were a god...
entering my full income
on the tax form

Most of us prefer to imagine the less Orwellian eye of a shepherd watching over his sheep or our very own guardian angel.

clear skies
my faithless prayers rise
unfettered

In quantum physics, the term observer effect means the act of observing influences the phenomenon being observed. The eye of the beholder, and even its perspective, directly affects the process.

the instant
of transubstantiation
paschal eucharist

vernal equinox

vernal equinox
as many questions
as answers

sakura buds

sakura buds
on the verge
her thirteenth birthday

last petal

the last petal
affirms what I knew:
he loves me not

spring pond

spring pond
blue heron and his shadow
skim the surface

garden planning

garden planning
weeding out the plants
that failed last year

light years

light years these rays
traveled to fall on my face
your long absence

knowing

cloudless sky
all the things
I don't know

this winding river
confluence of what I know
and what I don't

milky way
what I don't know
I don't know