The Distant Shore

Still longing for new insights--truths instilled by my father, but not fully understood in my youth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NBII, USGS 2009. The NBII Library of Images From the Environment (LIFE; http://life.nbii.gov, 2010 Sept. 6). National Biological Information Infrastructure, USGS, Reston VA 20912 USA.  Photographer: Randolph Femmer.  The original image can be found at http://images.nbii.gov/RFemmer/D_med-res/38%20KOKI%20BEACH%202B.jpg

 

 

The Distant Shore

 

Ah smell the ocean in the breeze

Come Wind and toss my hair

Oh Sun, please put my soul at ease

As gull cries pierce the air

 

I walk on grass, tufts mixed with sand

Oh sandals, make me free!

As people pass, and children play

They smile and look at me

 

But they can’t feel my yearning way!

The turmoil in my heart

Or all the cares to which I’m prey

How soul is ripped apart

 

And so I flee--to be alone

Drink in the ocean’s roar!

As nature sings in rumbling tones

I long for distant shores

 

To reach that beach and see those lands

My heart would burst with joy

But I'm not young, I have old hands

I’m not that once bold boy

 

So all I do is walk away

But oh, how spirit burns!

I cannot keep these thoughts at bay

For ‘ unknown yet I yearn

 

Why should this hunger pull at me--

I know it’s at my root

I learned this from my father, he

Of knowledge made pursuit

 

A simple and a working man--

No privilege in life

And yet he had a simple plan:

Knowledge he’d take to wife

 

And he’d pass on this worthy course--

This wisdom to his son

And straight and strong he’d grow perforce--

Content with life when done

 

So father sat me on his knee

When I was just a boy

“My son,” he said, “what e’er you be

Let Reason be thy joy!”

 

“Challenge your mind, challenge your soul

Wherever you might go

With weaker course you’ll not be whole

They’re paths where naught will grow”

 

And I have learned this was the key!

Throws wide bold myst’ry’s doors

When insight flowers and truths I see

I’ve reached those distant shores

 

So I have strived for all my life

To seek fair Nature’s truths

And knowledge, as my sire, made wife--

The nobl’st of pursuits

 

But now I’m old and walk the beach

And outward I do stare

There secrets lie beyond my reach

I know, I feel them there!

 

And inward weep, for time is short

As wonders slip away

I’m desperate, with no resort

No more ' there time to play

 

And so I walk and seek solace

Along this briny beach

But find no comfort in the grass

My goals in utmost breech

 

And how this hunger pulls at me--

Tugs at my very core!

As night time falls upon my life

…I long for distant shores

 

 

 

©2010 Richard Puetter

All rights reserved

Reviews

[Dinesh Sairam]

"Yet how this hunger pulls at me--
Tugs at my very core!
As night time falls upon my life
…I long for distant shores"

Not one of your best poems, but is still very good. Some stanzas seemed a bit force to me (Like the second stanza from last). But many stanzas like the one I quoted a very dreamy and apt. The title also fits the words perfectly.. :) Longing for the insights, I know that ;-) Keep writing.

[sereenaoutloud]

This is sad but so beautifully written ! It flows effortlessly. As we get older we can no longer physically do what our minds want to! You can feel the longing in this write!! Loved it

[Hidayet C.]

I saw this via my contest, "Colors of Life", and you seem to be one of the best. I really like this and your one of my favorite sumbissions

[The Hampstead Poet]

Very poignant! There comes a certain time in life when we are all hungry for distant shores, for that which lies just beyond imagination's reach. Even when we feel that we know all there is to know, there is still more that we have not discovered. What a wonderful world it is that every day brings a new mystery to be solved. But, as you have pointed out in this poem, there comes a time when we are tired, and there is naught more we can glean from nature nearby. Let us hope that day is far away! Thank you for this eloquent and melancholy piece.

[TerumiF]

This is so beautiful..
"And knowledge, as my sire, made wife--
The nobl’st of pursuits"
I admire the way the poem has been structured and written, and indelibly yes, the meaning it portrays once the poem starts along with the scenes that have been handsomely put down.
It gives a sense of peace yet stormy aspirations, so close yet so far away. Acquired some yet not satisfying .

Wonderful Read :)

[Brittany Zedalis]

Another great piece. Wonderful imagery.

[first second third]

this is very well written, i could feel the emotion and the story behine this, and i touches my heart deeply, and for me i love that its on the beach born in florida, it kinda hits home for me. very well written, and wish you the best on fulfilling your longing hunger.

[icaros13]

Beautiful. I especially can relate to the stanzas ten and eleven. I tell my daughters the same thing. (although not quite as poetically) I feel the same "hunger" though I, too, have somehow gotten a bit old... Lovely write.

[White Ink]

"...I long for distant shores"
I read this poem a year ago, and i still remember it. Strangely, i even remember that last line.

Keep writing. :)

[Lena M. P.]

Excellent write. Imagery and passion abundant.