This is the first poem I wrote in 2002 after more than a 10 year hiatus from poetry. It has some minor issues that detract from it being just right and no matter how much I've re-edited it, I can never seem to get it to be entirely perfect.
I reclined for awhile along the river bank
Watching the water eddy and flow
Watching the stones I threw as they sank
The moon slipping with a silver glow
As I sat, I started to ponder more and more
While the water flowed slower, then stilled
No more ripples cast out to the sandy shore
I felt the stagnant peace; I lost my will
I stayed longer yet, ceasing to move
No longer breathing or being, nothing left
Content to watch with all thought removed
Void of excitement, blank, bereft
In the distance, a whirlwind was swirling
I watched as it stirred along the trees
Wanting to escape my boredom
I fell onto my knees
I prayed to become one with the whirlwind
To let it take me away
Prayed to escape my lethargy
Regardless of anguish or pain
Soon my prayer was answered
When the wind swept me into its arms
Faster and faster we twisted
Further from the river, unharmed
But the whirlwind didn't offer solace:
It was cold, bitter, remote
Every second, every instant was different
I was unable to think again or to hope
Suddenly, the wind stopped
Returning me to the ground
The sun was directly overhead--shining, bright and round
The sky was clear blue
A beautiful ocean nearby
I could see seagulls
I could see the water teeming with life
In that instant, I realized what I had always known:
The river did not freeze my movements
I was not made of stone
I could always leave
Seek visions of my own
My inaction was imprisoning me
The whirlwind is what finally brought me home
I reclined for awhile along the river bank
Watching the water eddy and flow
Watching the stones I threw as they sank
The moon slipping with a silver glow
As I sat, I started to ponder more and more
While the water flowed slower, then stilled
No more ripples cast out to the sandy shore
I felt the stagnant peace; I lost my will
I stayed longer yet, ceasing to move
No longer breathing or being, nothing left
Content to watch with all thought removed
Void of excitement, blank, bereft
In the distance, a whirlwind was swirling
I watched as it stirred along the trees
Wanting to escape my boredom
I fell onto my knees
I prayed to become one with the whirlwind
To let it take me away
Prayed to escape my lethargy
Regardless of anguish or pain
Soon my prayer was answered
When the wind swept me into its arms
Faster and faster we twisted
Further from the river, unharmed
But the whirlwind didn't offer solace:
It was cold, bitter, remote
Every second, every instant was different
I was unable to think again or to hope
Suddenly, the wind stopped
Returning me to the ground
The sun was directly overhead--shining, bright and round
The sky was clear blue
A beautiful ocean nearby
I could see seagulls
I could see the water teeming with life
In that instant, I realized what I had always known:
The river did not freeze my movements
I was not made of stone
I could always leave
Seek visions of my own
My inaction was imprisoning me
The whirlwind is what finally brought me home
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