the sailing rules

forget me not, originally uploaded by arialee miles.

Here a quite old piece of mine but strangely consistent with my present mood .

Today I observed the people
Like I watched them
for the first time.

Just a simple thought,
but it cut me to the quick.

Each of us is an island.
Doesn’t matter how
one borders to another
forming an archipelago.

There is an arm of sea
in between.
A deep sea,
so we can’t swim.

Therefore,
to go across that sea,
we use boats made of words.
Sometimes they keep the water,
sometimes they sink.

So we hoist the sails
of our enthusiasm,
and in contrary wind,
full of disappointment,
fast we lower them.

We rock,
trying to catch a rope
which would take us
sheltered from ourselves,
inside another person.

The other,
we entrust lot of ourselves,
loving and unawares.
We cling to the sailing rules,
we use the compass and
we use the nautical charts.

We learn the necessary
about winds and tides,
we are worthwhile of the storms,
we polish the bulkheads
and we supply the storeroom.
Filled with optimism,
excited by the journey.

Then while we are in the open sea
and we already glimpse the ground,
the sea suddenly flattens,
and we pray,
we wait for a thrust
which would drag us
out of that slack calm,
but it doesn’t happen.

Then we amazed,
astounded,
we wonder why?
We ask ourselves
about the sailing rules,
the strength of our wishes,
about our desires.

We feel betrayed
by ourselves,
incapable to be consistent,
to hold the course,
to steer the vessel,
incapable
to strength the stain
which pushes ourselves
towards that new
unknown land.

So we slowly,
sailing close to the wind,
turn back,
over our steeps,
often over others’ steps,
quiet, sad, a bit older,
and alone again.