What We Found in the Wake

While we slept, time swept on tides

to nebulous shores, the senses

lulled by tranquil plash of moonbeams --

the ovule of a question inched across

the dark azurine sky:

 

would the clock obviate the fullness  

of a new beginning, love’s promise

to starting again, leaving behind

the moribundity of life’s diminishing lease --

could we fold our doubts into the folds of an unabated tomorrow?

 

I felt my apprehensions unlatching  

from the mare’s-nest of the Spartan existence

I’d called home since weaning

off the biting tit of the harpy’s

cold-hearted dismissal --

 

as day, drifting across the bow, lifted

a thin veil of fear, your eyes

opening to the reality of how

the curve of space carves places from the imagination,

bends the mind to constellations as yet unformed --

 

suddenly hopeful, nerved

to the unbounded ways a heart could fly,

the long-mocked Icarus stirred

from the ashes, fixed to purpose

the raw reasoning of loins to soul’s resolve.

 

What we had found in the wake of storms,

the relentless rake of keel-shearing reefs,

seemed more than either of us had bargained for.

After so many years of hard sailing,

to see the glimmer of a harbor’s caress

 

rising through the mists, the hot breath

of another oar rowing toward the light,

being consumed by the fever of consumption,

still carried the tinge of an illusion --  

could we fold our doubts into the dream of tomorrow?

Ken e Bujold

 

Reviews

[Perdition]

Whoa?! That boat and moon and sea monster did a number on ya, didn't they? Well, every stanza is rich with the "plash" ( must admit I enjoyed seeing that word again) of emotional liquidity. This one I read as if I was in the boat and could see and feel the wake, the storm, the questionable ovum, and mostly the metaphorical if not harsh literate sailing. Be it the wake or be it tomorrows, we do find our solace in the words we craft once back on worthy ground, don't we? Excellent write Ken as I'm thinking twice now about buying that schooner..lol. .

[Betty Hermelee]

Stunning words and images throughout this piece...will tomorrow be better for both of us...I feel struggle here and perhaps reckoning with aging, but love still counts no matter what...but there are doubts....maybe tomorrow we'll see a better day,, at least an illusion of one.
Beautiful....
Best, B

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks Betty. This one is more of a look back at 20 yrs ago, when Muse and I got married. She surrendered much more than I did, a country, friends, and career. The theme is one that runs through my work a great deal, the question of commitment, and all that it involves. Unless one has gone through the process, one can only imagine the emotional turmoil that comes with completely taking a flyer on an entirely new world.

[Betty Hermelee]

You're very welcome Ken.
Best, B

[duff]

Stunning imagery throughout this piece. Turmoil and beauty. Read it a few times. Nice work Ken.

[Alla Antsis]

"leaving behind the moribundity of life’s diminishing lease..." absolutely brilliant!

[Neville]

I have missed such good poetry and for so long, I am however, delighted to have found it again, write here ..

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks for the grand praise my fine friend

[Neville]

To quote L'Oréal, bucuz ya wurf it :)

[W. Barrett Munn]

Your usual and expected proficiency with diction in an exceptional lexivon. I struggled a bit with the rhythm and wondered if line end choices were out of synch with my personal metronome.
For example I think I would have st least tried this alternative.

While we slept, time swept on
tides to nebulous shores
the senses lulled…and so on

Winston

[Ken e Bujold]

I did indeed try them out. But, and it is a big but, shifting the breaks in V1 shifts the subtle senses I want to convey.

While we slept, time swept on tides isn't the same meaning if I shift tides down. One suggests the moment of time on tides, the other suggests tides to shores, and i want the first.