Sweet Surrender

 

sweet surrender

by

peter green

numbing spring waters

torrents of winter runoff

angry.

threaten unstable muddy banks.

lean birch and evergreens

bite into the slippery slope.

struggling wirey roots

grip

in search of stable bedrock.

nest of straw string and twigs

balances in the safety of its tree.

wavering.

as the slender trunk sways

from unbound heart.

blu-jays chickadees and finch

of

fresh joyous plumage
flitter about.
sadness unsung.

abiding
from one feeder
one red berry
one lard suet to
the next.

imagine the freedom!
soaring diving twirling.

their

tiny dark eyes wake each sunrise

void of love

with each falling sun

tiny hearts stop beating

alone

without hate

in the darkness.

the River hails.

my foot drops
into frigid bottomless rapids
dyed iron red.

currents swirl.

a twisting brood of snakes
coil around my ankles.

icy waters gurgle to my calves.
embrace my knees.

i teeter on the rocky base.

the River craves my soul.

i fight its hunger.

like a young man

resists his desire

for the woman

he should not
he cannot
he will not

love...

i grapple for the shoreline

i stretch for a life line

a fallen log

a vine.

a hand?

fingers claw into wet black oozing muck

fishing

seeking

like the young man

i weaken.

icy cold rapids squeeze my body

hoisting me from my stronghold.

still

a tiny chickadee pecks at
the black seed.

a surgeon.

splitting each embryo.

fiesting on the meat.

while

i can offer no resistance.
arms splay outward.

as wings
i float.

pounding through white water.
tossed from

crumbling bank to

crumbling bank.

my gut is penetrated.

i am impaled.

for a moment

then ripped away.

a thick branch from a

fallen log

twisted and sharp

sucks on my blood and tissue.

as cabernet pours from its bottle

life fluid drains.
bleaching the iron heavy water
deeper.

i am merely
a play thing of
the River.

i am the mouse

it is the cat.

the eternal wait is over.

and

scavenger blu-jays perch patient
in wavering birches.

line smoldering rapids

as spectators.
indigo feathers
a familiar cap

like that of the melodious cardinal.

large pointed beaks open.
a cry.

for help?

i smile.
i am allowing the course to

unfurl
like a delicate flower.
i am handing my faith to the

current.
i am dancing with the

creatures
laying beneath

in darkness

unseen.

it is a Sweet Surrender.

to the rocky edge

of pounding falls
the River carries me.

i am tossed

to the gods.

all the while

a young goldfinch

aglow in fresh golden plumage

perches on a low hanging branch

watching

Free Fall.

all is calm.

all is quiet.
The River
has been silenced.

Reviews

[Alicia Schroeder]

Such a beautiful poem, great write.

[A-Lovely-Anxiety]

Beautiful poem, the title really caught me. Love the beautiful flow and the inner emotion.

"all is calm.
all is quiet.
The River.
has been silenced."

Beautiful words, beautiful emotions.

[deadly healer]

just the title caught my attention. i like the ending
''all is calm. all is quiet. the river has been silenced.''
pretty.

-deadly healer