Saturday, December 09, 2006

(Kirk Willingham has given me permission to reproduce this poem in its entirety.)

The Girl and the Sea

©Kirk Willingham, 2006

A girl I once knew went to swim in the sea,
Against the tide, and the waves, and the breeze.
In her mind she was the strong swimmer of her youth
While actually a weak swimmer, but not facing the truth

That the ocean is strong, the current is fierce
And with each stroke out deep hit amiss
That her strength was not there, out in the deep
Past the safety of friends, of family and people.

Yet her confidence was in her own strength, not the word
Of those who warned her, swimming out was absurd.
But pay them no mind she thought, I am free
To challenge the ocean, to swim in the sea.

There came a point of no return beyond waves
When strength is not king, where no one is brave
And she realized too late that the sea was much stronger
Than she was, and she felt she could go on no longer.

Like a thief in the night fear snuck in her mind
And thoughts overwhelmed her, thoughts unkind
Like how deep was the ocean floor?
Ten feet? Fifteen? Two dozen or more?

Maybe miles was the answer, perhaps depths unknown,
And the fear in her mind raced on and on
While the waves began to splash in her face all the more
The fear turned to desperation, it made her mind sore.

She started to splash, to panic, to look at the clouds
Unaware that on the beach had gathered a crowd
She could not see for the water, the waves and the spray
That the people on shore had started to pray.

“I’m going to sink way down in the deep,
I’ll drown here today,” she shouted, and weeped.
Then a voice so soft began to say, “You will live
If you can do things my way.

“You have swam and struggled to the point of death
Now the words that I have will restore your breath
And life, and hope, and the will to live —
Trust in my word, and it’s safety I give.”

And suddenly like a bright light the mystery ended
It did not matter that she was stranded, or how far
The ocean floor was, how strong the sea
The voice gave direction, as if the North Star.

So she floated on top of the water and breathed
A sigh of relief, though she still needed strength
To swim home to shore, back to safety, to land,
She floated and breathed and pined for the sand.

She was startled when there came a splash
To her right and a man shouted to the task,
“Grab a-hold and swim in, you can make it today
If you remember to swim and do it my way.

“Don’t fight and don’t fear, for we’ve seen you out here,”
And the words of the voice suddenly came clear—
The word is the answer, she grabbed hold of the rope,
The life preserver, she knew, was her only hope.

Then, like a tide, she felt the rope pull
As hands on the shore tugged steady and full
And the girl rode the waves like a seagull, a fish,
She knew that a rescue was someone’s good wish.

The shore appeared, the people, the beach
And she knew that her safety was now within reach.
Next was sand, and she crawled from the sea on her knees
She forgot the waves, the salt, and the breeze.

She kissed the sand then collapsed on the shore
The shouts of the people went over the roar
Of the ocean, the waves, and the sound of the sea
For the girl had been saved, she was now truly free.

And the girl who was saved from the depths that stormy day
Now stands at the edge of the water to pray
And sing a song to the souls that may stray
Too far, too deep, too long in the fray.

And her voice and her song can only be heard
Because she obeyed the voice and the word
She has power over the waves and the sea
And this night she sang her song to me.

posted by stu at 6:59 AM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home