Monday, June 21, 2010

walk away

giovanni fattori on the beach or grey day

life:
the boat sails.
then it's docked.

sometimes
it's dragged up onto the beach
and abandoned
landlocked

that's when you
walk away
and
scour the beach for small lovelies

sea glass
shells
mermaid combs
dreams
little rocks
that shine and almost glow
until they dry out later on
becoming simply
and most especially
themselves

walk away

let the waves wash
over your toes

13 comments:

Noelle said...

I was feeling rather abandoned and landlocked myself this evening and came upon your blog. So beautiful with those images of small lovelies on the tide that when dried become "most especially themselves." I like the idea of finding mermaids combs. I am reminded of T.S. Eliot's the Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock:

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

Prufrock was a skeptic. But you have offered the reader the chance to walk away from that landlocked vessel and enjoy the feeling of the foam of the waves washing over her toes. Thank you.

ellen abbott said...

Very nice steven. Have done this many times. It brought back memories.

alaine@éclectique said...

The seashore offers up wondrous things and one of my favourite things to do is to sit on a rock and have the waves wash up over my feet. I'm fascinated by the sea but wouldn't wish to be out on it.

Friko said...

may I come and join you on your beach walk?

I'd love to let the waves play their little games with my feet. And I'm sure I could arrange for big enough pockets to hold all the treasures we might pick up.

steven said...

noelle this post comes out having been landlocked as a blogger. my work is so overwhelming through this the last month of school that i can't really spend much time "getting out" and visiting around. it's frustrating but it is what it is and so here i am. i'm glad that you enjoyed the words. the eliot is certainly in the back of my mind from way back when! steven

steven said...

ellen it's a memory i hope to build on this summer when i visit canada's east coast. steven

steven said...

alaine - i'm much the same in some respects. i like lakes and rivers. but anywhere watersaide that i can walk and look for small pretties is good with me. steven

steven said...

friko - i come away from these walks with bags of bits and pieces - rocks, shells, sea glass, driftwood, treasures that find a place in my home in little shrines arranged in several corners! steven

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Sweet advice - 'walk away'. Sometimes we cling too long to our vessels of transit and safety. How many treasures are missed when we refuse to let go and take a little walk along life's shore?

Elisabeth said...

There's nothing like those 'small lovelies' from the sea. Thanks, Steven.

Reya Mellicker said...

Sorry you've been working so hard, but as always your heart opens to the beautiful no matter what's going on. Bravo!

CiCi said...

Just reaching land and getting off the boat is a start for me.

Dan Gurney said...

And bide your time until the flood tide arrives and floats your boat again.

I'm in the first weeks of my summer break, enjoying the spaciousness of time it brings. You're getting closer, steven!