A new poem

I played around with a new poem. What do you think? Is it too much? (PS -- while I wanted some funky spacing, I just can't seem to get the correct spacing on this blog post!)

On Writing

My arms are strong in the deep water
Shoulders stretched
Elbows bent down at right angles
Forearms circling like eggbeaters
Circling like eggbeaters
Legs kicking
Pushing me up

A breath
Between intermittent waves
A faraway shore
Success if I can make it

Waves carry me forward
Then pull me back
Forward
Then back

Progress is slow, tedious
But there is progress
And my arms and legs still move

At night
Black water sloshes against my cheeks
To sleep would be to die
To lose my strength to die
My arms give out
Give in
To the density of the waves
And the movement of the water

The movement of the water

The movement of the water

My legs, determined still to win the shore

At daybreak
Sun reflects off the sand,
Uncut diamonds for the picking
My goal is the shore
The faraway shore,
Respite from the fight,
The constant battle to breathe

The weight
Of the water
Against
My chest

More waves

Salt and sun bake my tears,
Tears that come with the loss of my legs
The faraway shore
Now invisible through crusted eyes
The smell of the shore is strong
And the water continues to move

Waves
More frequent now
Dip
And rise
Dip
And rise

Kelp glances off my wrinkled toes
The blisters on my eyelids
Don’t hurt as much
My strength’s absorbed by the water
So I float
On my back
Head first toward the shore

The smell of the shore is strong
And the water continues to move

At dusk
Sand bristles along my back
A crab clips at the base of my neck
Driftwood pounds my ear
My lips are blistered shut
I am blind

Yet the smell of the shore is strong
And the water continues to move me

out

to

sea

again

Copyright 2008