Fisheye

I've begun to compete
Against people that don't exist
Just one way of knowing
How far from shore
You can truly go

I thought I was holding a rope
Some line from raft to solid ground
But it slipped from my grasp
While I was writing this
I hope you understand

This is not a message in a bottle
Hardly; it is a cramp in the abdomen
If it's anything worth mentioning
Some tingle in an aging cavity
Not to make this about me

Some old friends created a little paradise
Or at least moved in on someone else's
They made utopia the way we discussed it might be
Following through on some vision
That now reminds me how far away I have drifted

Back at the beach, any beach
There are answers for my disappearance
From that vantage point, I have succeeded and found peace
From that apex we all have
It is a saltcorroded glassbare scope

I know because I've made a visit
To the coastline of discontent
Seen yours and showed you mine
It always looks distinguished from where you're sitting
Right there, behind the camera, fish eye

And we trade for hours and talk like soap
Carrying away the bits that have accumulated
Keeping the essence the way it is supposed to be
Separated by dock and draft
Still white and blue and familiar
--
8.14.09

Comments

Erin Davis said…
This is really powerful. It stays with me. Partly because I myself have competed with people who don't exist, and mostly because of the amazing images you put together here.