Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Morning Sail












On either side

We smooth the waves,

In concert,

Billowing the sails

And tacking west then east,

Bearing for the strait.

It is! It is!

There’s nothing to be had

In pointing fingers.

But I wonder if like me

You wish that you

Could cross the gulf

To reach the other side.


38 comments:

  1. Metaphors for marriage, beautiful and sad. She or the one is wondering; wanting. Yet there seems to be that part of her and within her marriage where she feels she cannot say it.

    She still has hope and wonders if he does too.

    Very touching writing, Karen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know, I used to call it a wall and it would just make me so frustrated feeling I could not breech it. I love your metaphor better, because water is fluid and has so much more meaning. If two are willing, they will find each other's shores.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is no gulf wide enough, deep enough, nor fearsome enough that you Karen, can not stretch your foot across to get to the other side.

    With all my fibrous being I know this to be true.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You did beautiful work with that metaphor--& yes, it is a poignant poem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. yes I do most definitely! Like the idea of smoothing waves.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful images and I love the "It is! It Is!"

    I love the simplicity conveying such complexity of emotion.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, Dianne - Thanks, and :-) to you, too!

    Calli - Exactly. Thank you for your close reading.

    Cat - "Something there is that doesn't love a wall," including lovers! Thanks.

    Walking Man - You are right, of course. Wise man walking!

    John - Thank you.

    Sarah - Me, too. :-)

    Joanne - Thank you. This was easy to write and hard to post.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A lovely poem most certainly. But afraid you've also left me with now deep wonder, what is was that wasn't you that you did write before this one!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Karen,

    Discontentment arise when i read this poem... a feelin' of hunger and famine... famine for somethin' even words can't express... awesomely touching!!!:)

    keep safe!!!:)

    >Kelvin

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh my. What a wonderful way to capture that gulf that always seems to exist in some width between people. The more we care for someone, the more power they have to hurt us.

    I've always loved your writing. Thanks for deciding back when to begin sharing it with us. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, Karen. I love it when I hop over to your site and find a new poem! It's such a good feeling. And I'm never disappointed.

    This one makes a great statement about marriage, or really, any relationship between human beings. I've felt this way with co-workers many times. Shew! But you're right. There's nothing to be had in pointing fingers. It wasn't until I tried to cross the gulf to reach the other person's side that any resolution came about.

    I love the metaphor you use. I agree with Cat. Water is much better than a wall. We can either drown in it or sail to the other shore. As always, you make my day. Beautiful and very meaningful poem! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. The sounds are all so beautiful. Love it. Melancholy. Heartful.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Aw... I was going to shout "adorable!" at first, but there's that bittersweetness lurking under the covers. I say, make a dive for it when least expected and bridge that gulf with your self. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hmm. We have a bed-making coming up very soon. I shall bear this in mind, surely. Question is, will we have an un-making as well?

    Kat

    ReplyDelete
  15. i love how this seems to touch on both what we can control and what we can't - two people in unity and individuality. it actually brought kahlil gibran to mind - "let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you...let [love] be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." -except where he is speaking as a prophet, you are speaking as a sailor - just as beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  16. All we can do is keep sailing till we find common ground. Land Ahoy!

    ReplyDelete
  17. a very beautiful and melancholic poem.
    you know, once I wrote a (Hungarian) poem, that had a line along the meaning of 'we are sitting on two different sides of the same lake'
    that was a sad writing, but here I see there some hope...
    I wish there is.

    ReplyDelete
  18. bearlyaudible - Welcome! Believe me, it wasn't worth posting - sort of sickly sweet. Not me at all!

    Kelvin - Yes, those emotions are floating in this one. Thanks for reading and commenting.

    Jason - If you read on down, joaquin has a wonderful quote from Gibran that makes the distance a little more palatible. I'm glad, too, to have found such companionship here. Thanks to you for your contests and community!

    Julie - Thank you! I always look for your comments. I hadn't really thought much about the many images we could use for distance until your and Cat's comments. I like what you have to say about relationships and swimming through. It is possible.

    TWM is a wise ole guy, too. What am I doing hanging around with a bunch of sages? Oh, right. They're poets!!! Love ya!

    JJS - Thanks for coming by and commenting! I've spent a little time perusing your many sites, too. You're quite a writer!

    joseph - Yeah, I wouldn't call it adorable. Wistful, maybe? Good advice, though. Thanks.

    Kat - You're the only person to mention the bed making, which was the inspiration for the whole thing!

    joaquin - I have loved Gibran since I first saw Omar Sharrif! (That's a joke, but probably true -- I was just a kid and I thought Gibran must look like Omar.) The Prophet is one fantastic work. I don't recall the verse you quote, but it is beautiful as all his wisdom is. Me? I'm just a little hillbilly gal with an idea. You? You're a very good and kind poet friend.

    TFE - Righto, mate! Now, why did I just think of "Crossing the Bar"? Not a good association, that! ;-)

    SzelsoFa - Thank you. We used the same imagery! How wonderful that you can speak English well enough to read and comment here and also write in your native language. I'm envious!! Wish I could read your Hungarian version.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ah, very nice - a wistful hope billows with the sails.

    ReplyDelete
  20. How to say it better than Joaquin has? That was beautiful.

    The wondering--the not knowing--seems the most painful part of all. To slice a course through the stagnant swamps of fear and distance must feel like a relief in comparison. I feel like this poem was the start of that.

    I really loved this metaphor, Karen. Its strength of honesty and its vulnerability.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Karen- distant shores are like distant pastures; it is the elusive that draws us. Thing is, sometimes it really is as good as it looks and better. I'm writing this on fri night from nitro. You should have brought me coffee. ~rick

    ReplyDelete
  22. nicely done...and a good read..thanks for sharing this

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nah, I'm more timid than you, but I admire your spirit and your poem.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Tumblewords - Thanks for reading and commenting even if I couldn't do the transliteration!

    Sarah - Your comment reminded me of one of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems:

    Tell all the truth but tell it slant--
    Success in circuit lies
    Too bright for our infirm delight,
    The truth's superb surprise.

    As lightning to the children eased
    With explanation kind,
    The truth must dazzle gradually
    Or every man be blind.

    Sarah, isn't that amazing?

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love this simple poem with its longing for accord while engaging in the metaphor of making the bed. Thank you to Kat for bringing up the relationship between the painting and the poem. I had wondered, and it casts all in a wonderful new light.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Rick - Sometimes it's just the trying to cross the gulf that is the hard part.

    Wayne - Thanks for stopping by.

    Dave - :-)

    Chris - Thanks for your comment. I almost named the poem "Making the Bed", but I thought that was a little too obvious. Now I'm thinking maybe I should have...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Choice pairing of visual and words. Intriguing and compelling poem... wonderful work.

    The nautical metaphors are so apt in this discourse... I played with them as well in Etre... do you sail? Sheets and billowing and sails and vast empty spaces... and beds. Well done Karen.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Cagey - Thank you for the compliment. I am no sailor, although I wish I were!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Cagey - I'll see if I can find Etre, although I think I may have read it already.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wonderfully written. Good play of metaphors.

    ReplyDelete
  31. It is, Karen. I hadn't remembered that one of hers.

    We are sensitive creatures. Wanting the truth, while we preserve our own understanding.

    ReplyDelete
  32. kewl pome and i like the picture too.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Shas - Welcome, and thank you.

    Sarah - You're too wise for such a youngun!

    Ghost - Hi! I'm glad to know you're still around. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  34. "a little hillbilly girl with an idea" Seriously? :D :D

    It is! It is! It is the poem I so very enjoyed. This is one fun in joining the partty late.... the comments are as good a treat as the post! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Ani - It's good to see you're still around! Thanks for commenting. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  36. This poem suggested a bed to me, and not just because of the painting, a bed where distances don't exist and, yet, sometimes they are impossible to cross... I love it, Karen! And it was very interesting to read all the other comments.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Yet there seems to be that part of her and within her marriage where she feels she cannot say it.

    Work from home India

    ReplyDelete