Letting Go
The river flows
She walked past the hedge
to the river’s edge
The water was wild
fear gripped her like a child
She couldn’t let go
there was so much she didn’t know
The other side seemed so far away
and unfamiliar today
What would the water be like
with so many
currents
undertows
where would it all flow?
Maybe it wasn’t about making it to the other side
it was every
ripple
eddy
tide pool
she would face
as she would find
her place
Maybe there was no destination
but exploring the river in front of her
as she slowly let go
and eased into the river’s flow
I love this. It reminds me of when I was paddle boarding around Dog River by myself in 2020 during the pandemic when my kids would visit my parents and I’d have a day to myself. I was listening to Joseph Cambell’s The Hero’s Journey if I’m not mistaken, and they talk about going into the depths of the unknown. It’s in the depths of the things we can’t see that we clear away all of the things that are keeping us at surface level. And I understand now—art tells the truth. Alec Baldwin says in 30 Rock to Liz Lemon to fall into the crevasse. Elsa says to let it go and then to go into the unknown. Avicci said to wake me up before this is all over. It feels like drowning at first, but when I let go and went into the unknown spiritually and emotionally, into the water of my own soul, I realized that I could see everything with clarity, and I have woken up to life. And the water is truly a baptism because I woke up to infinity and immortality because only our bodies die. Our souls are the things that stay fully in tact. And I am so glad I found the way to cleanse mine. Magic. Thanks for inspiring that thought with your beautiful poem.
Jane, I love how you always make your poems rhyme. It amazes me that that’s one thing. I’m not good at at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this.