Just when we thought
we’d reached the end of the world
the sea rolled over
on a wind driven tide
and a white plumed eagle
dipped into the sea
for a shining silver salmon.
Onyx black whales
traveled beneath the waves,
their arched dorsals raised
as they cut through the water.
Massive clouds fed by the ocean
scattered rain on the thirsty land
while raven sat alone in his high perch
telling tales of what had been
and what was to come.
Gulls careened above the rocks
and from the deep earth
came a thrum of great power.
Reaching the end
we had found the beginning
and in that place of quiet
our new found silence
nursed us back to health.
Powerful images. Thx for sharing!
Now this is a wonderful poem!
Thrum!
Don, the title worried me but then the poem! This is compelling, lovely.
Ah… YES! Bravo!
Nicely done. Reminds me of T S Elliott’s line about exploring until we return to the beginning and know the place for the first time.
I love this poem, Don. Your gorgeous images elicit such a sense of magic and awe in me, and finally, deep peace.
I had that very experience this morning watching CBS Sunday Morning.
One segment was about atrocities done to black boys in FL years ago. I sat quietly and thought, “Well, maybe we do need to start over. How many times do we have to begin again?” The answer…”As many as it takes.”
Then the rest of the segments were about the joys of living and loving and the wonders of space. It’s as if I had designed the morning myself. Perhaps I did.
Exquisite and just right…..Love this…..
How coincidentally poignant that your poem comes at the precise time when my veil of pessimistic certainty is rent by a sudden realisation of potential twists that lie beyond scientific observation. The sudden realisation that the “melting” Siberian permafrost will reveal much more than methane gas alone. And we really don’t have a clue … except that mighty change is afoot.
I love these words which transported me to places I have been blessed to be. Thank you Don.
What a splendid poem Don — full of stillness and creation and action. I read it several times, and then left it and came back, and — suddenly I hear it as a telling of the story of the Great Arc, in our time, in this day. And there is a naming ceremony going on in the midst, from genesis to revelation — a vibrational arc from the beginning to the end and into a new beginning. I am glad you are here to name it all and share your part in our great book of poems and stories. db
Lovely