No way out
of fine balance
on the long thin wire
between the towers
of then and now,
of what has been
and what must be.
Carrying the weight
of seventy one years
I can’t look down
like once I did,
can’t let my mind wander.
Every step precise,
each movement of arm and leg
careful and disciplined
with the tension of symmetry
as the far tower approaches.
Like a kettle over flame
I boil but not too much,
let the intensity build
but not spill over.
I sleep on the wire
and wake to another day
above the chaos,
intent on the journey
and treasure of this moment,
splendid and free so near disaster,
crossing the void to what waits beyond.
photograph by Ann Foorman
Magnificent Don — at once both parable and the reality of my life, our One shared Life Line, here and now — a trutly great and enduring poem. You are on my wire and I am on your wire, always. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Don —
Intent on the journey / and the treasure of this moment. That’s it for me right now. I go in to the hospital tomorrow for life-saving, life-changing surgery because my journey toward “what must be” is not over yet.
On the Wire strikes home with me. You have nicely crafted it to allow personal interpretation. On this multidimensional wire that I find myself, there seems to be need for balance and attentiveness, yes. But more so, what it has always required: confidence where it seems unwarranted and compassion for all the other high wire walkers, that I may not judge. The wire itself defines the path. Each one has their own wire to traverse.
~ Good To Be Truly Awake ~
A great metaphor Don. As artists we speak through and to the heart – “speaking in tongues”, no one is excluded. It is one wire that also connects us all. Ah yes – “splendid and free so near disaster”, what a feeling, nothing like it! Thanks.
Like a bird on a wire….
Thanks!
Thanks Don! , With balance adjustments increasingly automatic, high wire artists keep their eyes on the Alpha and Omega ahead, footsteps sure in the wire’s endless moment, enjoying the winds that come and go.
Long ago, in a place far, far away…no wait…
When studying a spiritual path training in the ’70s, I learned the significance of holding tension between heaven and earth. I now see it as holding a frequency.
Today, that frequency is more like an aura of surround as I walk through my world in delicate balance. Sometimes I stumble, but the substance generated by tension/frequency helps me rise and walk on.
Today it is sunny. Tomorrow may be stormy.
Nevertheless….
The changes on this wire are erratic sometimes; tension is stiff and sometimes loose so how important that we stay alert, generous and humble and most importantly in the now, attentive to the movement of this flexible thread. As always, thank you for this creative metaphor of our life now!
Don, this is very sharp, one of your finest – for content as well as form. Thanks.
One tightrope walker to another, I’d say you nailed it!
BRAVO!
“The path to Enlightenment is as narrow and as difficult to walk as a razor’s edge.” – Somerset Maugm. Be well my friend and stay thirsty.
Sorry I spelled Maugham incorrect. There is a debt to pay for the privilege of being alive. Blessings to you Lloyd.