Friday, January 21, 2011

Tempest

Our ship is tempest-tossed, the gale is raging endlessly on. Every slackening of rainfall is but a brief respite before the next wave crashes down. A year we've been riding this storm. Unlike some storms we've weathered before, there is little about this to quicken the heart and feed our wildest spirits- this tempest beats down relentless, and all the frantic tasks to stay afloat merge into an exhausted dream.

Still, I can marvel at the waves, towering majestics, great kings of water rolling and crashing. I gasp at the explosion of light sparkling briefly from the school of fish below. The lightning is a deadly gift, dangerously beautiful, and the thunder reverberates down into my toes. And there, look! Do you see? A break in the clouds, however brief, to reveal the moon shining ever on, separate and eternal in the velvet night beyond. Do you see it, love? Can you see?

But you feel you've been washed overboard, and you cling desperately to what lifeline you can hold, separate now from our floating haven, mercilessly shoved about by forces beyond your control. You cannot catch your breath, and you cannot see. I am reaching my hand out to you, as waves wash you near. Can you catch my fingers, love? Can you climb back aboard with me, and share this journey again?

4 comments:

Kyddryn said...

Hugs, love...you're strong and your ship is sturdy if a bit worn...you'll weather. You aren't alone in these waters, either...so if you find yourself needing a lifeline, send up a flare.

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

Bill Lisleman said...

wow I need a towel

KaHolly said...

Very powerful stuff. You are quite gifted with your ability to express yourself in written word. I hope this is just an exercise in creative writing and has no reflection on what you might be experiencing. Hold tight, if that might be so! ~karen

Kit said...

@Kyddryn You are wonderful. Thank you, m'dear.

@lisleman Glad my writing can be so evocative! ;)

@KaHolly Thank you- I appreciate the compliment very much. It is a response to true experience, but viewed of course through a poetic lens. And that, in itself, is one way of holding tight.