Friday, July 19, 2024

Fifth and Final Reworking of a Poem

 Final Attempt.  Not working this again lol.  I do not know why I bothered with this one so much. It is far from what others might deem as great or even good...not worth th effort even...but I felt compelled to rework and revise.  Crazy. Maybe its the message that needs to be heard?

The River and the Eddy,

While the Ocean calls the River home,

a prized trophy bobs up and down,

carried high on the shoulders of the returning hero.

Asleep, after hours of splashing effort,

 unaware of the strong and steady waves

 that carry it  along,

 the swimmer mindlessly moves

 toward its own demise.

 

Whirling, swirling, riveting in tormented circles,

the Eddy up ahead gets ready to pull 

all treasures from the River’s protective hold.

 Set on tearing all the unsuspecting,

yet the endlessly anticipating 

away from their unconscious daydreams

it waits for its next victim to arrive.

 

Like a bully hiding in the corner of the River’s bend,

it sticks out a dirty foot from below the sparkling waves.

And the surprised River, so intent on getting to its destination,

heeding only the voice that calls it forward,

stumbles over the boulder of Samskara 

and its lifetime collection of debris.

Losing its momentum, its hold on self weakens.

The swimmer is torn from its clutches by the Eddy’s force.

Both the river and its charge

 are clumsily sucked into the awkward barrier.

 

Tangled up in all the other captured things,

torn from its original trajectory, 

splashing about in a desperate attempt 

to find something solid to hang onto 

the drowning treasure swallows

the waves of misguided attempts 

and begins to sink to the depths below.

 

All the while the rush of these Holy Waters,

the trough and crests of these mighty waves,

are still being called forward 

by the Oceans’ powerful  but unseen Force. 

The Voice of Source is strong and unrelenting, 

stirring up the waters that collect

behind the impediment of samskara.

 

The River is drawn like a magnet to all that is.

Yet, the cries of its cargo, the drowning swimmer,

pull its attention down and away from nature’s intent.

When the watery focus repels that which it is,

and is drawn instead

 to the stuffed and stored debris of human preferring,

to the boulders of human resistance,

forming the current of human selecting,

it spins in a whirlpool of human suffering.

 

Down, down, down the swimmer sinks, 

claimed by this vortex of its own trapped energy, 

into the mirky depths that build up and break down 

behind the boulder of samskara.

The River …the powerful, majestic river ...

drops its all- seeing eyes from the skies

and follows this human down to the watery death that awaits.

 

Howling with delight,

the Eddy triumphantly claims 

another victory over the natural flow of Life.

 

The undaunted Ocean sings again, 

calling out in compelling whispers,

coaching the River to leave the swimmer behind 

and to come home where it belongs.

Reluctant to detach from that

which it carried with such pride,

the waters continue to resist 

They twirl and swirl around and around,

making the Eddy stronger with each downward plunge.

 

Still, that Force calling the River forward is unflinching.

It is determined to bring all its Ripples home. 

Unknown to this tiny disturbance of river, 

trapped in one of many Eddies, 

 Life is determined to go on.

In the universal flow,

exists the Shakti, pure and free, 

moving in glorious sparkling persistence,

 back to the Source from where it came.

The birds and winds above 

cry out in joyous awakening 

relaying a message in their song   

for all who will listen: 

Stop resisting, relax, 

and let the ocean pull you home.

 

Through the rushing noise of human drama,

 the soothing chorus is heard

and the River finally removes its focus

from the drowning, struggling form.

It lets go.  

 The flimsy carcass slips 

lifelessly to the muddy bottom,

while the waters return 

to the surface where they, 

sparkling with millions of  twinkling diamonds,

embrace the sunlight once again.

 

The boulders dissolve,

 the debris disperses

 and the Eddy is no more.

Without the heaviness of swimmer,

the barrier of Samskara, 

the mighty River is set free to continue 

its joyful journey home. 

© Dale-Lyn, July 2024

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