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The Far Side of the River

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This baby sea turtle looks a bit anxious.

Swimming both ways - fears few enough That youth crossed often in rapture, Far side bank's rushes, secret home Serenity in seclusion. Thoughts of decades past stall upon instant And I wonder if I could do it now. February 28, 2017

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Kunda Chamatete

Date: 4/12/2017 1:24:00 AM

The strong flow of your poem sweeps us away and dumps us where you want to get us. I'm a grateful reader, you are a great poet Doug :). Congrats

Anil Deo

Date: 4/5/2017 4:54:00 PM

Shalom! U great swimmer, whose many rewards include secrets revealed in Nature's bull-rushes/cattails/rushes. A R U S H in Nature - addictive! Thanks Doug, AD

Doug Vinson
Date: 4/7/2017 11:11:00 AM

Ha! Anil. : ) You are too kind. To think of being 13 and immortal, and now to look in the mirror, 45 years later... Have to laugh.

Chris Hagy

Date: 4/2/2017 6:29:00 PM

You have certainly captured the look in this turtle's eye! Hopefully we will all make it:)

Doug Vinson
Date: 4/3/2017 2:45:00 PM

Hey Chris. : ) We people do better than those turtles - gulp - at least to a point.

Teddy Kimathi

Date: 3/29/2017 8:36:00 AM

Congrats Doug, for your placement with this meaningful piece!! ;-)

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/29/2017 1:13:00 PM

Hey Teddy. : ) Thank you.

Lukas Ficklin

Date: 3/20/2017 11:17:00 AM

I wonder that every day... Beautiful Doug Congrats :)

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/21/2017 1:58:00 PM

Hi Lukas. I sit in the bar of the restaurant that overlooks the river, and.... Well, that's it. ; )

Pandita Sietesantos

Date: 3/19/2017 3:09:00 PM

Hi Doug, congratulations on your win! This piece took me back to my youth when I spent many idle hours swimming in "my" river! :-)! Hugs and a 7! Pandita

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/19/2017 7:29:00 PM

Hey Pandita. : ) Thanks - and yes, a simpler time for most of us.

Charlotte Puddifoot

Date: 3/19/2017 5:15:00 AM

i said this was a good one - congrats on your win!

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/19/2017 1:51:00 PM

You did, and thank you, Charlotte. (Somehow I escaped your harshness muhahaha....)

James Inman

Date: 3/18/2017 5:24:00 PM

A beautifully expressed memory Doug.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/19/2017 1:50:00 PM

Hey James. : ) Thank you.

Maria Williams

Date: 3/17/2017 9:17:00 PM

Beautifully expressed Doug, a 7 from me

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/18/2017 8:37:00 AM

(((Maria))) : )

Vladislav Raven

Date: 3/16/2017 11:35:00 PM

Hi Doug, I am glad i am no longer young and if i were given the chance to go back i would not take it. I look forward now to the adventures that await me going forward.I really like the concept of the poem Doug, and the words used. Excellent. Has to be a seven. Your Friend....Mike.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/18/2017 8:27:00 AM

Ahoy Mike! I appreciate that - and feel the same way, don't want to go back and do it all over. : P

Eve Roper

Date: 3/15/2017 5:08:00 PM

You can do it...... nice write... ~*

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/15/2017 8:17:00 PM

Ha! Thanks, Eve. I wonder what canoes are going for there days... ; )

Connie Marcum Wong

Date: 3/15/2017 3:13:00 AM

An introspective piece in a dreamy nostalgic expression Doug. I like! 7 ; )

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/15/2017 8:14:00 PM

Cheers, Connie. Thank you. : )

White Wolf

Date: 3/15/2017 2:32:00 AM

But would you want to, Doug? In some aspects, maybe! But youth is definitely wasted on the young, Haha. So, this is for a contest? GL matey.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/15/2017 8:13:00 PM

Budgie, it would now be a *serious* challenge, a more intense thrill. Yet no, wouldn't really want it.

Forrest Pasky

Date: 3/12/2017 8:39:00 AM

I like this piece a lot Doug. Excellent photo to go with it.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/12/2017 8:32:00 PM

Gracias, Forrest. While I don't think the baby turtle picture goes with the poem - he, after all, is faced with a life-and-death scramble across the sand to the sea, with it's second layer of high-odds death - I do love the human-seeming chagrin or other emotion we may find on his face.

Deborah Burch

Date: 3/11/2017 3:33:00 PM

Doug I can hear Frank Sinatra singing "The Ant Song' :) well done!! Big Hugggs!! deb

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/11/2017 8:07:00 PM

Ha! Right on, Deb. Released my birth year, that song was...

D.A Hopkins

Date: 3/11/2017 2:28:00 AM

I am not a big fan of this style but I just wanted to advise you I stopped by

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/11/2017 8:01:00 PM

Hi Denise. : ) Well - hey - glad you did. That made me laugh. ; )

Paul Callus

Date: 3/10/2017 4:29:00 PM

I have often had the pleasure to find seclusion and serenity, Doug. There are moments when being alone with nature can work wonders! // Swimming to the far side can be very metaphorical; in life there are times when we have to reach out beyond our comfort zone!! Regards // paul

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/11/2017 8:01:00 PM

Paul. : ) Right on - totally agree - the value of solitude. It's not for everybody....

Lynn Marie

Date: 3/10/2017 12:55:00 AM

Love the contemplative feel of your words. A poetic respite in this frazzled, connected world. Terrific writing, a pleasure to read :-) blessings, lynn the baby turtle indeed looks anxious, I marvel at their longevity.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/10/2017 11:26:00 AM

Thanks, Lynn. I think most of us get more contemplative as we age. I sure had a sore lack of it at certain younger times.

Eileen Manassian

Date: 3/9/2017 3:59:00 PM

Doug...we all wonder about a great many things. :) thanks for your visit to my blog.

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/10/2017 11:25:00 AM

Cheers, Eileen, and ain't it the truth...? : )

Rhonda Johnson-Saunders

Date: 3/5/2017 10:35:00 AM

Ahhh, to be young and fearless again! It's wonderful to have memories. Even if we don't reach the other side in youth, I believe we get there in our own time...I love these lines, Doug. They have given me much to think about this morning!

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/7/2017 7:02:00 PM

Good deal, Rhonda. I guess there is no hurry....

Robert Lindley

Date: 3/3/2017 7:31:00 PM

I swim in dreams of my youth, days with my mother and memories of her holding my hand as a child.. Serenity, how it can soothe , when deep in thought in the deep woods! So much packed into just six verses!A7

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/7/2017 6:02:00 PM

Thanks, Robert. Memory - indeed - so much of what we are.

Debbie Duncan

Date: 3/3/2017 2:29:00 AM

I like this, I thought at first it was going to be whimsical, like one of mine called The Ride, thank you for coming to read my granddaughter's poem Dark Moonlight :)

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/7/2017 6:01:00 PM

Cheers, Debbie - thanks. : )

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 3/2/2017 6:52:00 PM

Ha. you are right about the sea turtle!

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 3/2/2017 6:51:00 PM

Oh, I love this one, a bit contemplative and the last line is awesome!

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/3/2017 10:04:00 AM

Thank you, Andrea. : ) To me it feels like we are leaving the poetic hills and then the last line dumps us on the flatlands of reality. Or something like that... ; P

John Herlihy

Date: 3/2/2017 12:07:00 AM

What we thought we could do we always did. What we never thought to do we never did. In memory, we do things again. John

Doug Vinson
Date: 3/2/2017 10:40:00 AM

Cheers, John. : ) Thank goodness for memory.