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The Far Side of the River

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

Copyright © Doug Vinson | Year Posted 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 Login to Reply

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 Login to Reply 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:) Login to Reply 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!! ;-) Login to Reply 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 :) Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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! Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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... ~* Login to Reply 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 ; ) Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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. Login to Reply 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! Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply 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 :) Login to Reply 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! Login to Reply

Andrea Dietrich Date: 3/2/2017 6:51:00 PM Oh, I love this one, a bit contemplative and the last line is awesome! Login to Reply 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 Login to Reply Doug Vinson Date: 3/2/2017 10:40:00 AM Cheers, John. : ) Thank goodness for memory.

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