Thursday, March 31, 2011

Artist's way




(dedicated to Anahita Hamidi)

The young woman found herself floating
in a small dinghy some miles from shore—
oars gone, rudder broken,
a wild cloud on the horizon,
the bag of cookies almost empty—
I’ll write, she said.  That’s what I’ll do. 
And with some blue left in the sky, a bit of algae,
some heart’s blood and her imagination
she wrote and wrote. 
Fish began gathering around the boat
to discuss the work amongst themselves. 
Everyone’s a critic, she said.

I wonder what happened
to the young woman in the dinghy— 
and if the fish were improved
by reading such a searing work— 
and if the storm ever made it to shore
in the face of such a life?
                              Rhonda Palmer

6 comments:

  1. I wonder what happened to the pages she wrote. Did she cast them in the sea
    Were they like stones beneath her feet
    as she skipped from one to another
    Until she reached the distant
    land of her dreams?

    GS who cannot remember her pw

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  2. Again - Beautiful. Easy to imagine and therefore makes me anxious for her.

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  3. I always wondered if there was something fishy in my self-awareness-insights after reading your poems. Now I know.
    I dreamed that she was so long adrift that her red hair grew seaweed-long and her words made the fish powerful and strong. At her bidding the fish could take those red strands in their jaws and pull her in swirls,or to shore, or further into the vast deepy song.

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  4. I really like this tale ...I would like to imagine the fish took her away to listen to her poetry :-)

    Nice to meet you ~

    http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.com/2012/03/numbed.html

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  5. Wonderfully composed story in the form of a poem. Lovely done.

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  6. The fish always gather...but I'm learning to write through the storms, anyway. Thank you for this beautiful dedication. BIG HUGS and lots of love to you :)

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