Author Information
Lessons from the Sea
Folder:
Nature Tremble, you who see only
earth and sky as you
camp here at the border
of heaven and hell
and swallow the fury
whole with one glance.
I've come here to die
countless times and walked
away more a spirit
than a body
after trying on light
like silken robes.
The sea never rests
but dreams a new dream
every moment,
buried under fire
and safe from scrawny,
rabid souls that
stalk power.
It has earned itself
a thousand names
like Sorcerer and Genesis
and Fear,
and here I can chisel
wisdom out of raw wonder
and feast upon sounds
that turn the wind into
stallions and translate
into silence.
I can follow serpents
to their depths and
live their dreams
or grow wings like the
waves that fly and plunge--
a violent birth and death
in the same moment.
And I wish my well-aged
hate would die as quickly,
I wish I could either
live or be as drunk as
the blue that reduces
me to a child.
Living seems possible here
only because the same God
that enrages the waters
concocted those confused
little crabs that make
complex creatures smile.
So generous with water,
so lavish with light,
now crashing and burning
on blue like
delirious constellations.
If the same heart that
gave us light gives us love
then we control the tides
and the sea is just
a trinket in our palms.
Tremble, you who drink
indigo fire
and see no God.
Dare to believe,
and welcome home,
sun-drenched and dancing,
your prodigal dreams.
by Patricia Joan Jones
response
'
'I've come here to die
countless times and walked
away more a spirit
than a body
after trying on light
like silken robes.'
a life chapter in 1 sentence
'
'If the same heart that
gave us light gives us love
then we control the tides
and the sea is just
a trinket in our palms.'
all reviews seem redundant
and unimportant... when
you say it all with such brevity
makes me wish you would write
an online autobiography
I can't express just how
I can't express just how meaningful and motivating your comments are. You are an inspiration. Thank you!
I think I have figured out a
I think I have figured out a key to your poetry, and this poem certainly demonstrates it well. Your work is like the best of Bach's fugues or Shostakovitch's symphonies: certain expectations are met, which creates great satisfaction; and certain variations are presented for the first time (the reader's or listener's first time), which creates ongoing and continuing interest. A poem has certain contours---which fits it in to the overall pattern of your total work. And then, within those contours which have interlocked with the others, the variations are presented and they will become, in turn and in time's flow, additional contours. I see this process in your poems very clearly; and I have only seen it so clearly when reading Vergil, or Wallace Stevens.
Starward
I can't tell you what a
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to have someone not just read my work, but analyze and appreciate it so deeply. I'm humbled, honored and validated beyond words, even though my formula is mostly unconsciously applied. I'm just glad it works in someone's opinion and that it brought a bit of enjoyment into the world. Thank you immensely for your very generous and fascinating feedback.
Every piece of your writing
Every piece of your writing is magnificent
i must say i love this very much:
"If the same heart that
Gave us light gives us love
Then we control the tides
And the sea is just
A trinket in our palms"
i wish we all were to learn
some lessons from the sea
thanks for sharing
salam