How far away you are!
You, who can love plain face;
You, who can say my true name;
You, who keeps me from falling down
And into the River
Of Time;
/
How strong are the ties which bind
Your mind and your heart to mine!
Like a spider tends to his web, you mend
The threads, which keep me suspended, alive,
Over the River
Of Time;
/
How warm is your brave embrace!
As warm as short summer months,
As brave as the open skies,
As strong as the icy hands which pull on mine,
Dragging me into the River
Of Time;
/
I bid you, don’t let me go!
I beg you, remember me!
I’ll scream to break loose but, please,
Don’t listen to me, don’t leave!
Watch me stand in the current of Time,
And no matter how much of it flows,
/
Know,
I love you
I like the dichotomy of the last verse – recognising that often we fight against what we need and love and require others to be so much wiser than we can be ourselves.
Exactly! Sometimes out of pride, or fear, or of self-hatred we refuse the love and friendship we all need. Thank you for your comment, Sally!
A struggle we seem to have begun when young…fighting with our parents about one thing or another…trying to break free…but knowing we need to hold on and they always tossing out a lifeline for us to find…wonderful poem.
The poem is indeed dedicated to my mother. I am very happy you liked it!
I love the 2nd strophe in this . We are indeed connected to one another .
Thank you for your response! We are all connected – to strangers as well as friends, to the place where were born and the place we chose to call home, to all the things we’ve seen, and felt, and known, and the things we have no idea exist… Our ties to to this world are very strong indeed.
It has a haunting eeriness as if it were written originally in a non English tongue or from some ancient text and that it is a translation. That is not a criticism but an appreciation of how it comes off. That may have not been your intent but it speaks to me with ancient wisdom and a non contemporary kind of fluency from another place and time.
Thank you for your comment, Carl! The poem probably comes off as it does because it speaks about the only ties which the tree, standing alone in the River of Time, still has to the land – of its very roots and their deep connection with the soil. They must be very old, very strong, those roots, because the tree is still standing.
I loved this one!
Carl!!! How very wonderful to hear from you! Thanks for stopping by :)!