The Hope that Lies Beyond

...A dream of the resurrection of the spirit...

 

A stormy moon.  Photographer: pullarf. License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic. This image has been modified from the original.  The original image can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/puliarfanita/5539685471/sizes/o/in/photostream/

 

 

The Hope that Lies Beyond

 

 Inspired by Great Aunt Astri’s poem “THE HOPE THAT LIES BEYOND HOPE” (http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/greatauntastri/1239458/). Thank you, Dear Lady!

Oh, how life's trials consumed my heart!

I faced each day in dread

My life was so devoid of joy

Held woe I could not shed

And desparate to end this curse--

To find from pain release--

I lifted goblet to my lips

Drank full, then slipped to peace

 

And as I slept upon my bed

A dream appeared to me

It seemed that I in water swam

Then sank into the sea

 

And down and down my body sank

Pulled down into the deep

I felt my lungs about to burst--

Prepared for final sleep

 

But on the bottom’s rippled sands

Were sunken ships arrayed

The ships not in sad disrepair

But stately were displayed

 

No rotting timber marred their hulls

No mud-encrusted sterns

This not a death-bed of the deep

These ships by God ne'er spurned

 

This not a graveyard damp and dark--

Wrecks ravaged by petards

No ghostly sailors beyond hope

No soul from heaven barred

 

But proudly sails were hoisted high

Filled full by current drafts

The sight did draw from me a sigh

To see such spritely crafts

 

And as these vessels strained to move--

To free hulls from the sands

Methought I heard a Captain cry

“Me hearties, next stop land!”

 

And spirit crews did then appear

Trimmed sails and manned the ropes

So lively did the sailors move

My God, it gave one hope!

 

Then clouds did move from overhead

And light of moon did gleam

Jeweled rays of light cut through the sea

And lit this brilliant scene

 

Then slowly from their watery graves

The ships began to move

Their hulls now free from sandy bar--

Untimely death reproved!

And then the Captain looked at me

He winked, then turned, he, back

I heard him cry out to his men

"Now Laddies, mind her tack"

And as the vessels pulled away

In water I did rise

Then somehow walked a sun-lit beach

With life restored as prize

And gazing at the sun, amazed

I clutched myself in tears

Oh how my life had been so blessed

I'll cherish all my years!

Then I awoke upon my bed--

My fears all swept away

Oh was this dream or was this truth?

I really cannot say

 

And yet I’ll always cherish this--

This vision of my dream

And whether true or whether false

I’m stronger so it seems

 

And I can see those sunken ships--

Can see them sail away

And now can face the world again!

Find joy in every day

 

 

©2013 Richard Puetter

All rights reserved

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Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga, Gaga

resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection

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Reviews

[Great Aunt Astri]

You've done a wonderful job of this! It does sound like a sea shanty and you have created order into the 'chaos' of my poem. The scientific mind v the artistic mind! Both valid, of course! The poem sounds really quite dramatic when read aloud! Congratulations.

[papaed]

Phoenix ships sit struggling to rise and sail free again, given life and hope by the rising moon. Their daytime felt at night. A topsy-turvy, but inviting world. You paint a picture appropriate to this season, with Samhain/Halloween only a few days away. We remember it is but a phase, a passing, a door to pass a celebration of abundance, and a promise of joy and freedom on the other side. Thanks for sharing this wonderful write and thanks to Aunt Austri for her inspiration to you. Peace.

[MomzillaNC]

The meter of this is wonderful! It's like you can hear the sailors singing it and working in time to it's rhythms. I had to read it out loud -- I need to immerse myself in your rhythm and rhymes! Brilliantly penned!

[The Hampstead Poet]

Very reminiscent of an old sailor's myth; a hopeless sailor renewed by a whimsical occurrence involving the ghost of an old sea captain. Was it a dream? Either way, a enjoyable and fanciful tale that inspires hope from beyond. This was immensely enjoyed!

[Latifa]

I like how this poem ends, first it takes us into a narrative journey where we can feel through your words the anxiety and the panic than it transforms into a hopeful message.
enjoyed muchly Rick, thank you for sharing it.

[Shaquana Adams]

Wow, just wow. Powerful and brilliant poetry. Bravo! :)
-QuanaWana

[Ladysue]

Rick this was truly amazing. Filled with strong images that took me along a rough voyage and inspired hope. Hope is powerful and when we see it so clearly as in your dream, we are forever changed. Love the spiritual feel of this.it moved me as it meaning is ever so beautiful..

[Tomás Ó C..]

Brilliant, just saw a quote on Facebook that "gratitude is the best cure for the blues" and then read this poem...

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Wow! Having read the original poem that inspired you thus, I am just amazed. Her poem glimmers like a single grain of sand on the beach, while your poem glitters as if lightning had struck the sand and turned the entire beachfront into glass.

This is beautifully inspiring, to say the least, and really sets sail into a horizon of happiness.

Falling asleep to dream a dream that causes gratitude for life reminds me of the small book entitled, "The Mansion" by Henry Van Dyke. You can read the full story at the link below if interested:

http://www.kellscraft.com/mansion.html

If you'd like to save the story for off-line reading, you can convert the link above to a PDF by converting it here:

http://pdfcrowd.com/

All you you to do is copy and paste the URL for the story at the second website and save it as a PDF.

[Mark]

Well, without a half-page of footnotes, I was almost unable to recognize it as a Puetter, but, well, if you say so...
All kidding aside, may I first thank you for giving credit to this poem's spiritual antecedent, which I read first, in order to see where you had gone, and where you were going. And, even as Astri notes below, your conversion of unrhymed meditation-slash-rumination into quatrain, and doubling its length, made it both clearer and more digestible to me. Several of the best things I have here written have been in in response to other poets' work, Emma's, Ellen's, and, yes, YOURS! And, as Ellen noted, having spent a large part of my youth in proximity to the ocean made this a much more personal offering to my psyche.

[Gleb Zavlanov]

Brilliant on all levels! You're quickly becoming a favorite.