~posted as free flow poetry on my tumblr blog~
Some days,
She climbed the ladder and
Padded to the end of the
Diving board,
Bounced to her toes
And a did a swan dive
Into
The Melancholy Ocean.
She swam through the
Swamp of Empathy,
Where every rescue animal
That needed a home,
And every child
That needed a hope,
Every man who ever felt less than,
And every woman who
Ever feared,
Poked leaks through
Her wetsuit and flooded in,
And the weight of the world
Almost bore her to the bottom.
She sliced through the Sea of the Sad,
What am I
Where am I
Why am I
Who am I
Whisked in alternating ears
With every breaststroke,
And barely broke the surface
To gasp in a gulp of air.
She dove under,
Kicked towards the bottom,
The dreck and the dark,
The muddy cloud,
Kicking up dirt,
The Sea Floor of all that was,
Those that had given up,
Dreams that had petered out
And sunk,
Books unwritten
Songs unsung
Dancers who remained stationary.
She faces the waves and the swells,
With tearful equanimity,
Because she always knows,
That once she clambers
Onto the far bank,
The pains and the hurts and the ideas,
Rush gushing from a
Fountain of Gratitude
And the sky is bluer,
The trees are greener,
The laughter brighter and
The love more fierce,
Because she can feel both sides of the coin.
This is phenomenally written. There are not enough words to express how much I love this….all of it….but if I had to pick one part, the part about poking leaks through her wet-suit and flooding in, nearly sinking her to the bottom with the weight of the world….well, that part is beautifully descriptive of exactly what it is like to swim too deeply and too long in the Swamp of Empathy without coming up for air for oneself now and again. I have taken that Plunge too many times myself and your words resonate meaningfully. Thanks for sharing this with us here 🙂
Thank you so much for the thoughtful, insightful comment. It’s always cool to hear that someone likes a style or a turn of phrase, but when someone says that they really get where you’re coming from, well, for me the compliment couldn’t be higher. Thank you again, for the compliment and for taking the time to leave your own words here. Have a wonderful day, and like Dory says, we’ll just keep swimming 😄