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.

[Manpreet]

Vow ! lovely piece to read and feel1

[YouoweYoupay]

I gaze at the foam and water and earth in the picture above and though it is clearly a painting of oil and dye, I long to bend and see what else lies beyond that tree. I long to tiptoe on the moist sand where the frindges of the sea come and go...playfully ebb and flow. And as for the writing, you have brought a piece of truth, sadness, and longing all of us can relate to,
oh, how I long for distant shores,
where ill thoughts plunge into the ocean
and dreams trace white birds that soar. 100/100. You have awaken a beautiful dream in me. Thank you.

-Wala.

[Clay Feet]

Just between you and me...man to man...soul to soul
After reading your mind so carefully phrased with simple
Sights on moving sand, my eyes gave way to depths of upheaval
From my soul. Your insightful hunger is near my own
And "Tugs at my very core!"
Inward search is oft times painful
And necessary to reach distant goals.

My glistening eyes belie a smile on my lips.

Thank you, Rick.

[Suheil Kapadia]

Loved it! you tell a story so simple yet profound.

[Sweet & Tender Hooligan]

Congrats on coming 1st. The imagery is captivating, beautiful and full of life.

[Murtuza]

I'm astounded by the power of the words in each stanza. I can feel the struggle and longing to reach those 'distant shores'
You've given a valuable lesson to us all indeed. Beautifully written with such great use of imagery. I absolutely love this poem!

[White Ink]

Absolutely breath taking, Congratulations for winning 1st place in "life has taught me", this touched me deep my friend and you deserved it.

[Desert Dreamer]

This poem is full of the feeling of youth in one who calls himself old, there are many truths to find out in nature, I hope to keep looking as long as I live.

[Tate Morgan]

Damn this brought me to tears for the first time on writerscafe./I have to say it was as if it were written of and for me.I say you have hit the nerve and then some.Bravo you have shared a true emotion and experience.To my m ind the greatest thing a poem can do is speak to the reader as if he alone were it meant for