Glimmering, Shimmering Water

When one door closes in our lives, there is often the temptation to seek out another doorway to step through. We want to feel whole again, to feel in control again, and all too often, we choose to (in)conveniently overlook the fact that we first need to heal.

I’ve been thinking a lot about water recently. Lakes, shorelines, and rivers (particularly the latter) make a regular appearance in my dreams. I tend not to try and interpret my dreams. I content myself with the thought that if there is something that I need to act upon or pay attention to, it will present itself during my waking hours. Often, my dream then becomes the lens that pulls my reality into focus, and helps frame what I need to think about and the action(s) that I need to take.

This is a poem that pretty much presented itself whole, demanding to be written down. For me, it reflects an acceptance of where I am in my life, and my hope and openness to the future. Today, I’m probably more ‘in the moment’ than I have ever been before. I’ve acknowledged, accepted and continue to learn from my past, I know who I am and what I want and need in my life going forward, and I’m secure in the knowledge that I’m on the right path (or keeping with the metaphor, that I’m swimming in the right stream).

Glimmering, Shimmering Water

Water flowing over us
Water carrying us
Refreshing, revitalizing, renewing

Drinking deep
We surrender to the current
Carrying us forwards

There are no rocks here
No branches to snag us
No vortex to pull us down

Only glimmering, shimmering water
Holding our breaths, we dive deep
Children of Triton, reborn

Where fears of drowning once held sway
Now water brings us life anew
Cleansing, closuring, clarifying

Lungs bursting, we surface once more
Forgiving, but not forgetting
The past discharged, our future awaits

© 2019 Robert Ford