One step forward, two steps back –
That’s the way I function.
There is something that I lack
When I am at the junction
Of making a decision
Which will finalize a plan,
No matter the precision
Since my research first began.
It’s like I’m on a diving board,
Afraid to take the plunge,
My hesitancy like a cord
My body can’t expunge.
And yet I search and plan and hope
My M.O. might just change
And I can shed that binding rope
And step-wise, rearrange.
Lucid refractions prance in this day's gloaming
Window panes sway in play to each heave and hoe
Stirred by haunting echoes of distant loons wailing
My gaze awakens in sheets that float her still to and fro
Shimmering, the surface murmurs...Take the Plunge
A primal beckoning that whispers to us each by name
Push the door, step up to the docks edge...Take the Lunge
Into freshwater so translucent, it hides no shame
Success is drawing blood.
Follow in my tracks.
There's no rush.
Im not missing.
Just off the straight and narrow.
Open to facilitate.
Steadfast to invigorate.
There are drawbacks
But I take the plunge.
Time passed as pastime.
Days blend differently.
Its not my daily grind.
But it helps to get by.
They say life slips through our fingers,
but I think it slips through our toes,
for you never know the day you might...
wrong a right
dye your hair green
out of spite
or even take the plunge
into death's dreaded depths and...
Go
And when you do,
you might think of all the things
you didn't do -
all the places you never walked,
but more particularly,
those whose shoes you never walked in,
and walked over their hearts instead,
yes, I think it's our toes that life slips through
after all
Brochures arrive quite often
And they beckon with a deal –
It’s time for senior living –
You don’t know how good you’ll feel!
There’s a pool, a gym, a clubhouse
With so much that you can do
And you’ll make new friends, for everyone’s
A senior just like you!
I know folks who have transitioned,
Others soon to take the plunge,
Eager for a fresh new start,
Their former lives set to expunge.
Though I envy their excitement
And the purging of the past,
I don’t see that in my future,
For I think the die’s been cast.
It is so hard to decide
Whether to stay on this ride
Driving us both to a frenzy
Please tell me if there is any
Way we both wont crash and burn
It is a very sharp turn
We are taking down this road
Carrying a heavy load
Both our pasts weighing us down
Do we need to turn around
Before we're on a dead end street
Full of lies, heartache, deceipt
It's such a slippery ride
Let's be cautious and not slide
Into a romance too fast
Slow down, ease up on the gas
Before our hearts take the plunge
Off a cliff we both will lunge
Hanging on so we don't fall
Off this ledge, let's just stall
Stepping on the breaks so we
Can glide a along more safely
Take the plunge..As I have before, try your friends..
Just to be sure.' Give them truth..Support' some trust
Then wait and see.' Expecting no love, or hate..that fire.'
For it might flare? Their will exposed, in steeped despair?
Who knows the spirit of humans? Deep to core? but one.!
The Great I Am, within deep seas we can't escape him
He's traced each wrinkle, none can berate Him.' And
So I turn to my only Father, who has warned me often
I had allowed for rather..? Well a different speil or option'
Did it depend in part how i'd spun the wheel.? God is
True let all others be liars' add the crackle of thorns to
To call those before Him called..? God watches 'all people'
And
Maybe, wonders?
At much stupidity as yet; he stokes hells fire.'
Why is it harder to say yes than no?
Is the pendulum biased to No side?
Is the seesaw weighted more on NO side
Why is it harder to sway up on a swing to yea?
It's fear that weighs you down!
Fear of what yea may mean.
afraid of being used,
afraid of being disappointed,
afraid of letting someone down,
afraid of being hurt,
afraid of being rejected,
afraid of being left alone,
afraid of being left vulnerable,
afraid of putting your heart on the line,
afraid of the unknown,
afraid of change,
afraid of failure,
afraid of stepping outside of your comfort zone.
But what are you missing out on?
Take the plunge from the high platform
of procrastination.
Give sway to yea, and let go.
The pool is deep, its surface quivering,
trembling with affable expectation.
Time and Chance
Time and chance
Faith and fate
Strive succeed, relax regress
The charm of beauty
And the pride of life
Are often the fortress of loneliness
And vast sadness
Time and chance
Faith and fate
The heart is the real deal
Beyond the veil is the seal
For only in you lies the verity
Time is a tyrant
Chance has no script
Time and Chance
Faith and fate
Mingling in the matrix of the mind
Face your fears, feed your faith
Soar like the Eagle, conquer space
Take the plunge, dear to float
In adversary lies victory
Someone perusing all the lines I penned
before this century would surely think
I must have signed a contract to produce
just poems with the strictest rhyming schemes!
It seemed my mind was programmed to create
rhymed couplets or a-b-c-b quatrains.
I asked myself then, “Must you always rhyme?
If so, you could at least try other styles.”
Because I’d always liked to read blank verse,
I vowed I’d take the plunge and write some too!
I love the partial freedom it affords.
While rhyming’s not included, meter is—
those five iambic feet I so adore.
April 5, 2023
for the Simply Poetry 2 Contest
Sponsor: John Lawless
Love beckons, let’s take the plunge
but first dark desires expunge,
lest cravings lead us astray
and our soul, we so betray.
If pure joy we wish to find,
we must first rest lower mind,
rushing forward to embrace,
outpourings of divine grace.
Know love does not hesitate,
so why for then, do we wait?
Oh worthy monk, take the leap,
feeling bliss mists seep in deep.
Resting habit of thinking,
head and heart, with love linking,
no sooner we come undone,
our soul with God becomes one.
28-March-2023
____________
Writing Challenge - 'P' Words - Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
optimistic turtle decides to take the plunge
he pushes off Gardner's Island with hope in his heart
he rides choppy waters for hours
heading toward the far-away lighthouse
knowing there is some sort of refuge there
he takes periodic breaks, floating easily on top of the waves
unconcerned, with resolve that he will not only survive but thrive
his optimism fills the ocean with hope
even the sharks feel it, and they respond
secretly rooting for him to make it
They say your eyes are the,
Doorway into your soul.
The glance across the room,
Warms your heart,
Dancing straight into your soul.
You have to take that leap of faith,
Glancing in their eyes showing,
The hunger that comes from,
Within their heart and soul.
Then you see the flashbacks,
Of a different time but it's still you and,
As always destiny is ever present.
Time heals the lonely heart whether,
It's in this time or whether it,
Was in your past life.
Your eyes will always give you away.
Your heart never lies.
Your soul is waiting because your,
Love will always be remembered,
Thru the centuries.
Take the plunge.
Take the chance.
Your heart and soul is ready,
To begin a new life and,
A new beginning.
Thus, upon the morrow
with a subtle tinge of sorrow
as I shivering, remember
dip my toes into November
for her snowflakes, now aloof,
will soon land upon my roof.
And yet, I’ll take the plunge
soak her up like childhood sponge
for there’s something in the wind
makes me long for her again
to caress her long and slow
to see my angel in the snow.
John G. Lawless
©10/31/2021
Last days of summer
Autumn's presence felt
The sea retains some heat
Hardy souls take the plunge
While gulls skim and surf
Riding on waves that swell
A curious seal watches
Alien species enjoying
Freedom from the land.
Image
by
Natalia_Kollegrova
Pixabay
Related Poems