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Floating

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Meme by Mel

Being here is like being in the womb Of the woman who carried you in this warm Safe pool where all your worries were how to Move your arm, how to not get entwined in that Weird rope in the middle. The water is cold, but not too, and if you close your eyes You can imagine, you can JUST imagine what it feels like To be so free again, and looked after and cared for You can JUST hear voices quarrelling And this very instant you realise this water is not Your mother’s love just below her heart, her love Is here all around you and she will worry if you float On and on. Most times this is how life is, trying to get a grip on it But it evades like the little waves you can make with your hands Little ripples in the surface that mean nothing Like trying to get a grip on what people say around you Words without meaning or at least it eludes you As if swimming between fish with their own language Forever trying to guess And being rejected Once you liked to swim, Once you were a wee one So with slow calculated strokes you move to safety And sit shivering. Not knowing how to live life and connect Nor knowing how to stop life. Once you loved to swim, hearing your mother Sing to you from a distance. And that sound brings you Back home again. *** April 28, 2017 Copyright © Darren White

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Sara Ella

Date: 4/30/2017 12:09:00 AM

Floating through life and floundering until you find yourself back to where you started. <3 Swimming and floating are both fun but not all the time. You write so that there are multiple meanings. I could read this one again and again. :)

Darren White
Date: 4/30/2017 1:05:00 AM

Yes, this one has layers of meaning right on top of each other. I am glad you like this <3

Maria Williams

Date: 4/29/2017 1:23:00 AM

How beautifully you have connected a woman's love for the baby she is carrying, bridging the gap between stroking her swollen belly and singing to be heard through thin walls. In a warm safe pool. Those words alone give me goosebumps. My dearest young friend, words are putty in your hands. A fave and a 7+++

Darren White
Date: 4/29/2017 1:41:00 AM

It makes me extremely happy that you like this poem of mine. And yes, it has that meaning, and I hope I did the feeling right that a mother can have for her unborn child. Thank you for the fav and the 7 :)

Tim Smith

Date: 4/28/2017 3:54:00 PM

It is hard to keep from sinking but have trust that others will help keep you afloat.

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 11:29:00 PM

There you go! You sensed the other meaning here too, and you are right. It is very hard to keep from sinking, from wishing to sink even. And it takes a conscience, and love, to stay afloat.

Anne-Marie Coreggia

Date: 4/28/2017 10:23:00 AM

Oh Darren, what a poem! The call of the womb . . . when I was a kid and we vacationed by the sea I would literally swim away and wouldn't come back until severe cramps called me back to reality. A fave:) Amitiés

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 11:45:00 AM

Thank you Anne-Marie! That sounds just lovely, also thank you for the fave :)

Richard Lamoureux

Date: 4/28/2017 8:48:00 AM

Have you ever tried a float tank with salt water? I thought It would feel closed in but it actually felt like floating in the universe. Great poem as always Darren. I too think in pictures.

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 9:12:00 AM

No, I've never done that, are you completely closed in, head and all? Because that sounds scary.... Welcome, picture thinker! And thank you :)

Chris Green

Date: 4/28/2017 7:55:00 AM

It is obvious tome that you see what you write. I don't mean the words on the page but the scene, the experience, the moment, you see it clearly and allow your pen to paint the picture that is n your mind and it is obvious because we se it too within your wonderful words my friend. Very well done.

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 7:59:00 AM

I like you saying that. At one time during my recovery process, they checked my IQ (not interesting), but what was interesting, was that one part of that test, was about how I think. A question for instance was: if you see the word chair, what do you see in your mind? I never see letters, I see pictures. When I read, I see films, never the words. They say I am a graphical thinker or whatsitcalled in English. So yeah, that's perhaps why my poems are the way they are :) Thanks Chris!

Charmaine Chircop

Date: 4/28/2017 6:13:00 AM

Goosebumps...I can relate as a mother and as a daughter...once a little one floating in that safe womb called home.A fave.

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 6:16:00 AM

Wonderful Charmaine, Thank you, also for the fave :)

White Wolf

Date: 4/28/2017 5:20:00 AM

You have dived deep and found the stone that has caused all those tiny ripples in this prose piece, Duir! Love it, my friend! How much do you charge for lessons again? I'm going to need quite a few!

Darren White
Date: 4/28/2017 5:23:00 AM

Thank you for that wonderful compliment Budgie my friend :) Lessons are for free as long as you don't mean swimming lessons hahaha.