Skip to main content

The Whirlwind

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Journey’s End

  old and new, I’m here waiting for you over the hills and under the sun waiting for you as life has begun waiting for you as long as we’ll be waiting for you as you waited for me again we go together my friend through these woods as deep as our sorrows we’ll travel this way into each day through mountains and glens til tomorrow gilded and golden, sapling in green dusty and dark, light with a spark colors abound throughout our journey filling our hearts at all we’ve seen making us age at every stage we’ve dreamed all of life's majesty in the oceans and ponds and what lies beyond footsteps echoing on the hard ground voices fading out til they have no sound we arrive here where we started before each of us the same yet now we've changed one of us lives and cries and cries the other lies down in this cold ground and closes her eyes dusty and dark, light with a spark we’ll travel this way into each day through mountains and glens til tomorrow
Post a Comment
Read more

The Fourth Riddle

  The Fourth Riddle I’m a whisper on the wind A thought held deep within Imprinted on your bones I won’t ever let you go I know your name I don’t forget anything By design, I hide The truth from sight Hush, shush Don’t rush They don’t know yet Try to keep me quiet Be silent They might buy it I’m embedded in your mind Entrenched inside How do you sleep each night? Worried they’re nearby This train is a one way trip But did you want a ticket? Oh, you can’t get off Until the end of the line Hush, shush Don’t rush They don’t know yet Try to keep me quiet Be silent They might buy it Hush, shush Don’t rush They don’t know yet Try to keep me quiet Be silent You can still deny it You are a prisoner of mine A prisoner in your mind I won’t ever let you go I control everything I’ll follow you to the grave Shhh Don’t talk
Post a Comment
Read more

Be Someone

When I shut my eyes And hold them tight The colors flash In my head so bright A whirlwind swirls The ocean’s waves A tide that’s fierce The sun’s sharp rays I think of you too far away You’ll never be here where I live You’ll never see this place Never have the same experiences Can I be someone Will it be enough Can we stay this way Despite the distance away I might still be the one You love I might still be the one You love Each day unfolds Going through these motions Attempts to care To be sane and well Not in a self-made hell Tired and spent Cracked and dry Lines forming on my hands Around my eyes I think of you too far away You’ll never be here where I live You’ll never see this place Never have the same experiences Can I be someone Will it be enough Can we stay this way Despite the distance away I might still be the one You love I might still be the one You love Can you be someone Will you be enough Should we stay this way Too distant and far away Am I still the one You love Are y...
Post a Comment
Read more