Post by Felypsa on Aug 16, 2005 19:04:45 GMT -6
(("silver dolphin" is a working title. if you have a suggestion for something better after reading this poem, please let me hear it.
i wrote this poem while in Nova Scotia this past week. it was inspired by a glass dolphin with a streak of green inside it. so, without further ado...))
silver dolphin
a silver dolphin with a streak of green
I wish I knew what it could mean
it gives a bright chuckle and flashes a light smile
that glares against the turquoise ’round my isle
I’ve stared into the sunset too many times
been humming along with the waves’ peaceful chimes
now the tide’s rushing in but I’m not ready
my isle’s shuddering and no longer feels steady
I clutch, in vain hope and denial, the sand
but like an elusive hourglass it slides through my hand
my vision’s fading with the dying sun
despite all this, I know it’s only begun
I’ve been here before, I realize:
this hellish paradise where I can’t see otherwise
where Reason and Feeling are always at odds
where I worship Hope and Despair as omnipotent gods
where I court Disaster, knowing perfectly well
that beneath his mask lies a celestial hell
this world I’ve created in my own contention
is destroyed by my guests, the waves of dissension
I wish I could wake up and find myself facing paper
so this island can disappear like imagined vapor
but there’s no waking up, this is no transparent daydream
my peaceful life goes beneath the horizon with the last sunbeam
everything in my personal paradise becomes suddenly vapid
devastated by reality’s every wave and rapid
in this night of uncertainty, I cannot hide
my stable life washes away with the changing tide
the silver dolphin with the emerald streak
is the first hopeful sign in a world so bleak
I don’t know this time where I’ll be led
unable to trust in anything you said
but while I’m here, helpless and swallowed
because my world went rogue and everything followed,
you stand in a place I could never reach
surrounded by walls I could never breach
that’s your life, and this is mine
it’s true they’re impossible to combine
even if you could see me, invisible
we’ll always stand completely divisible
and even as I’ve watched and listened
I’ve remained, to you, nameless, unchristened
I look in the mirror and I see me, alone
’cause my isle is sinking lower, leaving me prone
the silver dolphin, made of glass, collapses into shards
it seems Fate’s chosen to deal me a faulty hand of cards
and while I’m spinning on this fortuitous wheel
everyone’s utterly oblivious of how I feel
but eventually the moon does travel on:
the raging tides ebb and the sun brings a new dawn
so I’ll just grit my teeth and endure
it seems like waiting is the only cure
but I’m sick of waiting, I’m sick of this isle
living these days and nights is too taxing a trial
I keep watching you and I pray for escape
hoping those shards of glass become a new shape
but meanwhile, I’ll have to wait on this island remote
surrounded by this infinite moon-slave moat
chained to reality while you live a dream
being my own island isn’t as perfect as it may seem
still the dolphin leaps: still the sun shines
still there’s a chance that every star aligns
so I guess I’ll have to find that chance
while I dream of a world beyond this cycling dance
I might see you on the other side,
a place where I’ll no longer have to hide…
i wrote this poem while in Nova Scotia this past week. it was inspired by a glass dolphin with a streak of green inside it. so, without further ado...))
silver dolphin
a silver dolphin with a streak of green
I wish I knew what it could mean
it gives a bright chuckle and flashes a light smile
that glares against the turquoise ’round my isle
I’ve stared into the sunset too many times
been humming along with the waves’ peaceful chimes
now the tide’s rushing in but I’m not ready
my isle’s shuddering and no longer feels steady
I clutch, in vain hope and denial, the sand
but like an elusive hourglass it slides through my hand
my vision’s fading with the dying sun
despite all this, I know it’s only begun
I’ve been here before, I realize:
this hellish paradise where I can’t see otherwise
where Reason and Feeling are always at odds
where I worship Hope and Despair as omnipotent gods
where I court Disaster, knowing perfectly well
that beneath his mask lies a celestial hell
this world I’ve created in my own contention
is destroyed by my guests, the waves of dissension
I wish I could wake up and find myself facing paper
so this island can disappear like imagined vapor
but there’s no waking up, this is no transparent daydream
my peaceful life goes beneath the horizon with the last sunbeam
everything in my personal paradise becomes suddenly vapid
devastated by reality’s every wave and rapid
in this night of uncertainty, I cannot hide
my stable life washes away with the changing tide
the silver dolphin with the emerald streak
is the first hopeful sign in a world so bleak
I don’t know this time where I’ll be led
unable to trust in anything you said
but while I’m here, helpless and swallowed
because my world went rogue and everything followed,
you stand in a place I could never reach
surrounded by walls I could never breach
that’s your life, and this is mine
it’s true they’re impossible to combine
even if you could see me, invisible
we’ll always stand completely divisible
and even as I’ve watched and listened
I’ve remained, to you, nameless, unchristened
I look in the mirror and I see me, alone
’cause my isle is sinking lower, leaving me prone
the silver dolphin, made of glass, collapses into shards
it seems Fate’s chosen to deal me a faulty hand of cards
and while I’m spinning on this fortuitous wheel
everyone’s utterly oblivious of how I feel
but eventually the moon does travel on:
the raging tides ebb and the sun brings a new dawn
so I’ll just grit my teeth and endure
it seems like waiting is the only cure
but I’m sick of waiting, I’m sick of this isle
living these days and nights is too taxing a trial
I keep watching you and I pray for escape
hoping those shards of glass become a new shape
but meanwhile, I’ll have to wait on this island remote
surrounded by this infinite moon-slave moat
chained to reality while you live a dream
being my own island isn’t as perfect as it may seem
still the dolphin leaps: still the sun shines
still there’s a chance that every star aligns
so I guess I’ll have to find that chance
while I dream of a world beyond this cycling dance
I might see you on the other side,
a place where I’ll no longer have to hide…