The Doldrums.
The sails are slack,
There is no breeze,
No relief.
The sea is flat, stagnant.
Missing is a driving force,
A force to begin,
A force to move.
The sailors fret
And mutter
Dark words of rebellion.
I don't much feel like writing.
Don't feel like much at all really.
The prompts come and go,
Viewed in a desultory,
Disinterested sort of way.
How can I write to that?
Stagnant. Still.
Paralysis.
I look at the screen blankly,
Almost panicking that little comes,
But almost relieved, for other reasons.
As some stuff, dark stuff, comes,
Bubbling to the top,
All tentacles and malice.
Like all monsters from the deep
It should stay there.
I push back.
A lone dove sits on the yardarm,
If it sees land, it says nothing.
.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013
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Here's wishing you a fair breeze to help you get out of the doldrums.
ReplyDeleteLand ahoy! Land ahoy!
ReplyDeleteLie to me fowl and it's dove mornay for dinner.
DeleteUh oh .. The doldrums..
ReplyDeleteHmm, I wonder.. What wine to drink with dove mornay?
Sauvignon Blanc or champagne. Or both.
DeleteCoo^per's Pale Ale?
DeletePale ale sounds good or perhaps a witbier..
DeleteI like this one- we've all felt like that...stupid dove..love the 'all tentacles and malice'
ReplyDeleteI've been stuck in those doldrums for almost a year. I'm thinking it must be an eddy.
ReplyDeleteIt's not me.
Deletethe lone dove there in the end is an effective image....the darkness...i have learned to embrace it when it comes...and not shove it back down....no need to carry it any further you know...smiles.
ReplyDeleteTrue enough. A private collection.
DeleteMaybe a snow goose will arrive to guide you into a brighter light and out of the doldrums...or better still, a mermaid or two!
ReplyDeleteKeep your chin up...better times are ahead...and the distance grows less as each day passes.
A snow goose? You never know. Could be a wren.
DeleteI like Lee's suggestion of a couple of mermaids.A school of them has been spotted on the Gold coast,although those fish tails can present a bit of a a problem. Something more cute and flighty like a wren may be a better bet in the cheering up department.
DeleteI understand. Sometimes it is hard to come up with something to write. I too have had those times when I stared at the computer screen blankly!
ReplyDeleteThese are feelings we all share I'm sure. There's a loneliness to foregoing the prompts, a loneliness to doing them, a fear of what's beneath and of course and attraction to the energy of those monsters. All interest. thanks. k.
ReplyDeleteYou are such an excellent poet. You write about not being able to write poetically. Well done. The black deep works.
ReplyDeleteI've been going through the same thing for almost a week. I also notice during these times, dark stuff often surfaces, maybe it's simply fatigue and after a good break the words will come flowing once again. Excellent poem!
ReplyDeleteOh, I know this feeling! Your piece conveys it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI like your first stanza! It good stand on its own. A very apt metaphor!
ReplyDeletebetter than a damnable gull, cawing like a white-tuxedo'd crow. but the dead calm, all the water and none to drink...
ReplyDeleteSometimes the dark can bring the light...your writing even about not wanting to write is poetic. Love the dark image of the sea.
ReplyDeleteah, familiar I am with the doldrums, that lack of motivation and drive..yet you managed to express it so poetically..
ReplyDeleteYour poem moved me to turn around and see that there are other arks in the distance hauling hearts poised between the monsters and the solitary dove. The landing is promised, perhaps by the time the monsters are tamed.
ReplyDeleteGood advice Susan. Very good advice.
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