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| courtesy of Google Images |
Fear
With toe tip submerged
I explore
brownish yellow
become mesmerized
with shadow-play
ask, once again,
why there isn't any blue.
Reflected tire
ripples drunkenly,
hypnotically
above her murky surface,
tauntingly daring me
to indulge. I try.
I inhale deeply,
imagine gathering speed
high, low, up, down,
letting go, soaring
envision the plunge,
ponder dropping beneath,
sinking below,
hand outstretched...
exhale, withdraw my toe
resigned to sit
another summer
upon the river's
sunny bank.
Some things
one never outgrows.
by Margaret Bednar, Art Happens 365, May 6, 2012
The Rock River flows behind my childhood home and I was never able to enjoy it. Many people boat and ski and swim in it. I just feel that (swimming) water should reflect some blue. I guess that is why I loved living on Lake Michigan, where I could see my toes upon the sandy bottom at all times!
HERE is a link to an entry to this challenge I found particularly beautiful!
This is for Magpie Tales #116. Click on over and join the fun. The Magpie photo prompt is below.
This is also linked with Imaginary Garden with Real Toad's "Open Link Monday".
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image: River Irwell by R.A.D. Stainforth
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aww. too brownish yellow/murky. :)
ReplyDeleteaww i love a good tire swing...and the brown water i swim it but every once in a while i get a creepshow flashback of the sludge that makes me want to sit on the bank for a while...
ReplyDeleteI have swung on a similar tire swing out into a river ... so much fun! Very nice words!
ReplyDeletethe movement of the entire poem is crafted beautifully, matching the vicissitudes of the mind.
ReplyDeleteI just came in from swinging on one very much like that! Not really, but we do have one almost like it...what a beautiful poem!
ReplyDeleteInteresting poem - and how our views on this change with age. As a child I would swim and play in anything, so long as it was wet. Nowadays, like you, I like water to be clean and clear!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the read and the story through yr eyes :)
ReplyDeleteI remember that tire.....but you couldn't get me to do that today! lol
ReplyDeleteLovely vision!
Nicely done!
I am scaredy cat so I can't plunge and swim without seeing the blue and depths of the water. Thanks for sharing this ~
ReplyDeleteHappy day to you ~
I don't much like water. I would have to have the water clear to want to get in it, especially after having a bad experience of having my foot cut by glass, walking in ankle deep tide at the beach.
ReplyDeleteLove your poem, slowly from contemplating the water, to going for it, plunging in. "Apologise" was unexpected but honest I think. Short lines, read with pause just paints the scene I think. :) Good capture.
I used to love swimming until I was in the sea and something very unpleasant floated past my face. Have never swam in any open water since. LOL
ReplyDeleteI do LOVE being on the water, by the water and watching it, listening to it though.
Great imagery here.
I was listening to my wife the whole time. She loves being ON the water, but not IN the water. Unless it is a pool.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a million people can identify with this..lol. The hallmark of a great poem when people say "yeah...been there , done that". Loved the whole nostalgic feel. Wonderful scene.
ReplyDeleteBrown water is dangerous - whatever sinks beneath the surface is lost. I swim in it but cannot bear to see my children go under.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that hesitancy to get in murky water. You've described that fear/mistrust quite well.
ReplyDeleteI like the clear water myself, but have to admit that I was a little less discriminating in my youth.
ReplyDeleteLove this nostalgic poem.
=)
There are some things one should never outgrow...
ReplyDeletepretty neat. I love the rapidity in the central stanza, really great job there. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThese sections are really good:
ReplyDelete"above her murky surface,
tauntingly daring me
to indulge"
"exhale, withdraw my toe
resigned to sit
another summer
upon the river's
sunny bank.
Some things
one never outgrows."
Nice job.
A dive into the clear cool water can be so exhilarating. But just memories. Some true episodes Marge!
ReplyDeleteHank
I too feel there should be some blue instead of brown, despite your reservations, you did a great job of capturing the pause on a summer day. viva la
ReplyDeleteTire swings, river swims, hazy summer days - some things one never outgrows.
ReplyDeletei DIDN'T MIND SWIMMING IN WATER LIKE THAT WHEN i WAS GROWING UP, BUT NOW i CAN'T EITHER. (oops... please forgive the caps)
ReplyDeleteI especially like:
Reflected tire
ripples drunkenly,
hypnotically
above her murky surface,
tauntingly daring me
to indulge
Wish I had the courage .. and the skill .. to swing on that tire, over a river .. and fall right in. I would drown.
ReplyDeleteI too became hypnotized by this swinging pendulum you have Artfully constructed, AH365, Thanks.
ReplyDelete