Mare
On the strand
My gaze towards the sea
With you I feel at one
Words drift towards me on the wind
Then dryly fall
Dry as the sandbar in the distance.
A splash of sunlight on my shoulder
The muffled wash of incoming waves
Above which the shrill laughing
Children's voices tumble
And in the midst of all this tumult
The discovery
That stills all else to silence:
The great ocean
That seems to have no end.
Mare
A splash of sunlight on your shoulder
Your hair that shines
From the glinting, spattering water:
A mermaid.
I pick up the shell
That lies at my feet
A house, a deserted house
Of an animal:
Angel wing.
Sometimes I feel like the animal
Sometimes the house, the shell
Together with you.
Mare
Later, much later
The image drifts up once more
On the ocean of my dreams
Takes on different forms
But never, never again
As on that day
On which you and I
Formed an unshakeable one-ness
With the ocean
As in an ancient covenant.
thank you for honouring and sharing the sacred ancient covenant!
ReplyDeleteHettienne, I am so grateful for your deep understanding ot this poem. It took me years before I found the courage to publish this. Now I am pleased I did.
DeleteZo mooi, dank je. In Silence we touch and light up the fire that keeps burning in us. We will always remember the first contact but never again we will feel the intensity that was there in the first touch.
ReplyDeleteMooie woorden weer, Mario! Dank je wel.
DeleteThis poem is hauntingly beautiful and touches my heart in so many ways! The images have a quality of vast openness. There are no defined edges, everything is moving, flowing, changing like the ocean, Mare. There is a surreal, dream-like quality. I feel there is within the poem a contrast between the infinite and the finite, the openness and the closed. 'The great ocean that seems to have no end.' And 'Sometimes I feel like the animal, sometimes the house, the shell, together with you.' This is the impression that I feel from the poem. But every time I read the words new images and feelings seem to arise. Ultimately, for me when I read this it is a poem of great love and oneness. Thank you Emma for this beauty!
ReplyDeleteThe depths of your understanding of Mare brought tears to my eyes, dear Joseph. For this is the longing... to be one with the Infinite Ocean of Love.. as in an ancient convenant... and you, my Anam Cara, read this in my words. I love you!
DeleteDearest Emma "Mare" is a magnificent love story with whimsical descriptions reflecting the incredible emotional attachment of such an event in one's life…carrying the love beyond given time and into the great ocean that truly has no end. So pleased you pulled this from your personal archives and shared it with us…your courage is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThank you ever so much for your heartfelt words about a poem that is so close to my heart. Yet sometimes we need a nudge to express our deepest feelings.
Delete