Skip to main content

Sea Series, Poem 4: Casting Off (This Mortal Coil)

When you cast your boat off that dock
Your trust is with the builders, with the ideas
Of man, who saw nature and found a way
To hoist sails and lay boards just so.

This connection, this estuarine moment,
Your river of a life, meeting the sea,
Takes all of you. No longer a riparian
Bystander, you lift your sails to the sun.

Whatever maelstrom you face,
You meet with the eyes of Poseidon.
Today is your fusion with the Atman,
You are a shell in the deep.

You cannot see yourself through
The waves and the soak. But you are
There, and you know the sand layers
Beneath your rudder all play a part.

The stage was set by the stars
And how they shine, guiding you
Home, to drown in the sunlight, bleached
Of fear, to become the vibration and the wave.

--

Mad Words List 7.31.18

Estuarine
Riparian
Maelstrom
Soak
Bleach

--

I've been thinking about how writing (and poetry especially) reinforces connections in our brain, but I also was inspired by the words this week to think of how we are always part of something more than ourselves. And how perfect a way to explore that understanding than by putting your life into someone else's hands, like the builder of a boat, or the conditions and will of the ocean tide?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yins and Yangs

Just this minute, the white-tailed Magpies are finding themselves In the verdant glades of the Rockies, As the aspens, fresh green, quake in the wind. They know nothing of Jon Snow, Or the window on the second floor Where I look out, remembering, Longing for apricity, the sun on my face. But the gloam is settling in, And the magpies will soon be seeking Windows of their own To look out of. And I think the shadows on my page Are cast like dark rainbows - made of light And things in the way. Awe-inspiring shapes I couldn't see in the dark. Is it best to be inside or Outside? Or can I be moved To appreciate this Pedulumic cycle - To be tossed, fro and to, Between creation and decay, Between sunrise and Sunset? Do you feel the loam in your hands, How rich it is when you dig deeper? Do you admire how perfectly The lilac blossom, with its powerful redolence, Seeks your attention as if to say, "Stay outside for a while." As my colleague yamm
Post a Comment
Read more

Bonus Poem: Peonies in a Paper Bag

Out of the earth, stems cut, And into the glass. A spectacle, a marvel, A reminder of the Outside, placed inside. They dazzled for days And then one by one They drooped, stooped over the Cold, round edge of the Vase, reaching for the door. And she said, "It's time, These must go. They might delight a few more Days, but no! Look at this Single one limping. They must Go." And into that brown bag They were buried, without ceremony Or song, amid napkins and other plastic Horribles. And that's how I found them. Heartbroken, Ruffled like goose feathers, Waiting to be taken out Again. To feel the air, Even if it would be among The dead and uncompostables, let their feathers Rest back into the earth They were clipped from. "Let us wilt in the place We call home," they said. And I just wanted to caress One - its soft, pink goose feathers - And tell it that it was the Most beautiful thing I had Seen all day. The most beautiful refuse,
Post a Comment
Read more

Leashed on the Edge of "I"

Do you ever wish you could view yourself As others see you? At a distance? That you might become one of the crowd Or the speck from the airplane? Or maybe you might become so close That you are nothing but locks of hair And the smell of Cabernet and black tea And a force in the night. I imagine you could even be mistaken For someone else. Could you mistake you For someone else? I think I could do it, Be you, or her, or him, or that dog over there Sniffing the fence, sorting out these Divisions. I didn't say I was I from the Beginning, but I wonder how we drag "I" Around like a stick, and chew a piece off Now and again. You were thrown the stick, And you fetched. But what if you could sniff Beyond the fence and be something more Or something less? Would you? Could we?
Post a Comment
Read more