"It's as if a great bird lives inside the stone of our days and since no sculptor can free it, it has to wait for the elements to wear us down, till it is free to fly." Mark Nepo

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Chairs on the Dock


Chairs on the dock look away
from the land
toward water
 toward the horizon line.

Empty or occupied,
the chairs sit facing away
from all that's known,
from certainty and history.

Buildings on foundations
they occupy a space that 
is both grounded and not:
the dock solid ground over
ever shifting fluidity,
waves lapping in and then out.

The chairs sit still, as chairs do,
as their occupants do.
But there is a sense of outward
leaning
longing
waiting.

Chairs on the dock can't follow the winds
or the waves
or the tides
or the sun setting in the west.

But they bear witness.

And if you sit in a chair on a dock,
that chair holds you in possibility.
Its longings awaken yours
so that you know you can 
fly or float or find your way.
You know it even as you still 
don't know how.

If you fall asleep, there will always 
be another chair
on another dock
looking out on a body of water - 
or at least this memory 
of the balmy fall evening
you sat in a lavender metal chair at the edge of a dock 
looking into a Texas sunset over
a softly breathing lake
and you felt you had arrived
home. 



Thank you, Julie, for providing the creative space from which this writing came, and the bottom picture.

12 comments:

Midlife Roadtripper said...

"And if you sit in a chair on a dock,
that chair holds you in possibility.
Its longings awaken yours
so that you know you can
fly or float or find your way.
You know it even as you still
don't know how."

Absolutely.
You are most welcome.
Come back.

Sally Wessely said...

Beautiful. "dock solid ground over ever shifting fluidity," - Life. I loved it. Thank you.

Linda Reeder said...

A lovely piece of writing.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Looking at the chairs by the water, I think they are calling my name. Peace.

Kimberly Jayne said...

Very nice. I love your evocative reflections. Brings back fond memories of our time at Julie's lake house and hanging with such wonderful spirits like you. My lime green chair did the same for me. It made me happy. Can't wait to do it again sometime soon.

Barb said...

A poem that tells of life's fluidity and change. I love the metaphors, and the picture it paints for me.

DJan said...

Although you posted this Wednesday, it just now shoed up in my news feed. I read it, and then I read it again. The sense of peace that I get from this piece is like a balm to my spirit. Thank you, dearest Deb. Ahhh....

Sandi said...

Lovely, just lovely! I love how you gave the chairs breath, movement and hope, despite how still they sit. I love this!

#1Nana said...

Lovely! I've spent a lot of time in Texas and never felt that inspired to write. I might need to find those chairs next time I go!

yaya said...

Your poem is so beautiful and sends the message that I feel when I sit on a dock...even a dock that faces a small pond. Lovely Deb

Gammary said...

I just spotted this. I get the mixed feeling of looking back and looking forward....but the chair has the idea of just being, now, present. So nice.

Mary

Kathryn Grace said...

Thank you for this poem. It is for me, in this moment, a meditation stretching beyond the few moments it took to read. Thank you.