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Contributing Writer Storytelling & Travel Writing

Tom Bretherton

Tom Bretherton has spent the better part of two decades travelling, and the better part of that time paying attention. He has contributed to Light & Composition since 2014 with a writer's instinct for the particular — the name of a town, the timing of a conversation, the kind of detail that makes a story feel true. His Reflections are brief narratives that arrive at something universal by way of somewhere very specific.

621 Published Reflections

Reflections by Tom Bretherton

Showing 12 of 621 essays
The Rhythm of the Tide Photo of the Day
May 30, 2014

The Rhythm of the Tide

I once spent an afternoon with an old fisherman near the mouth of the river, watching him mend a net that looked more like a spider’s web than a tool for work. He told me that the water has a memory, and if you watch long enough, you start to move in time with it. […]
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The Language of Joy Photo of the Day
May 30, 2014

The Language of Joy

I remember sitting on a wooden porch in a village where I didn’t speak a word of the local tongue. I was exhausted, my boots caked in red mud, and I had spent the better part of the morning trying to navigate a map that didn’t quite match the reality of the winding mountain paths. […]
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The Quiet Visitor Photo of the Day
May 29, 2014

The Quiet Visitor

I remember sitting on a porch in the Scottish Highlands, waiting for a storm to break. For three days, nothing moved but the mist. Then, on the fourth morning, a small bird landed on the railing just inches from my coffee cup. It didn’t seem to care about the wind or the vast, grey emptiness […]
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The Art of Waiting Photo of the Day
May 27, 2014

The Art of Waiting

I once spent an entire morning sitting on a mossy stone wall in the Scottish Highlands, waiting for a red deer that never showed. My knees ached, and the damp air seeped into my coat, but there was a strange, quiet power in the stillness. When you stop chasing the world and simply let it […]
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The Quiet Observer Photo of the Day
May 26, 2014

The Quiet Observer

I remember sitting on a rusted bench in a public park in Kolkata, watching a crow pick at a discarded crust of bread. An old man sat down beside me, his hands folded over a bamboo cane. He didn’t look at me, but he pointed his chin toward the bird. He told me that if […]
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The Weight of Being Small Photo of the Day
May 13, 2014

The Weight of Being Small

I remember standing on a subway platform in Brooklyn, watching two brothers wait for the train. They couldn’t have been more than six, dressed in matching coats, their faces set in that peculiar, heavy seriousness that only children possess when they are trying to understand a world that is moving too fast. They weren’t playing. […]
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The Weight of History Photo of the Day
May 12, 2014

The Weight of History

I remember sitting on a low wooden bench in a village near the border, watching an old woman shell peas into a rusted tin bowl. Her hands were maps of a life spent entirely outdoors—knotted, stained, and moving with a rhythmic, unthinking grace. She didn’t look up when I sat down, but she shifted slightly […]
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The Quiet Language of Proximity Photo of the Day
May 9, 2014

The Quiet Language of Proximity

I once sat on a bench in a crowded station in Lyon, watching an elderly couple wait for a train. They didn’t speak, and they didn’t look at one another, yet their shoulders were pressed together with a deliberate, rhythmic weight. It was a silent conversation built on decades of shared mornings and unspoken agreements. […]
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The Weight of Still Water Photo of the Day
May 7, 2014

The Weight of Still Water

I remember sitting on a wooden jetty in late October, watching a fisherman untangle a net that seemed to have more knots than rope. He didn’t look up when I sat down, but after a while, he gestured toward the water. He told me that the lake had a memory, that it held onto the […]
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The Currency of Seasons Photo of the Day
April 28, 2014

The Currency of Seasons

I remember walking through the woods behind my grandfather’s house in late October, the air sharp enough to sting your lungs. He stopped to pick up a single maple leaf, turning it over in his calloused palm like it was a gold coin. He told me that people spend their whole lives waiting for the […]
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The Weight of What We See Photo of the Day
April 26, 2014

The Weight of What We See

I remember standing on a subway platform in Brooklyn, watching a woman across the tracks. She was staring at a blank concrete wall, her brow furrowed, her lips moving as if she were reciting a list of things she couldn’t afford to forget. She wasn’t looking at the wall at all; she was looking through […]
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The Weight of a Morning Photo of the Day
April 18, 2014

The Weight of a Morning

I remember sitting on a rusted bench in a park in Kyoto, watching a sparrow navigate the space between two cherry trees. It didn’t seem to care about the commuters rushing past or the heavy, grey clouds threatening rain. It had a singular focus—a small, dry twig it was determined to carry to the other […]
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