Thursday, April 23, 2020

Boat Adrift

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
~Aesop


A big thank you to Linda Mitchell for sharing her "Things I Wish You Knew" poem with us today.



I wish you knew

I am a rowboat
whose bowline
has come undone.
I have drifted
away from the dock

too far, I think,
to call for help

or be seen.

When you say,
you can talk to me,
I wish you knew
I don’t know
what words will work
for you to find
me adrift,
wishing you
or someone
would pull me back,

tie me
to the safety
of my mooring
before the fog
becomes too thick.

(c) Linda Mitchell

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When asked if she had a resource link she wanted to share, Linda wanted to encourage people "just please reach out to friends and loved ones." It reminded me of a post I did called "In your boat."

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Wondering and Wandering has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Christie!

P.S. Last call for the Summer Poem Swap!

P.P.S. I still have more Things I Wish You Knew poems to share (from Kat, Jan, and myself), so we will be going into May. I'll share a post with links to all the TIWYK poems at the end.

19 comments:

Sally Murphy said...

A clever extended metaphor. Sad, but informative too. Thanks Linda and thank Tabatha for sharing.

Janice Scully said...

The metaphor of a person needing help as a boat afloat needing to come back to the dock is a good one. Recently I realized that a friend of mine was struggling but didn't know how to get the connection she needed during this time when she is so alone.

Linda B said...

Finding help when feeling adrift must be a call for so many this month. Your words of a boat adrift may help others by feeling they're not alone, Linda. Thanks for continuing to share these, Tabatha.

Linda Mitchell said...

Thanks for sharing the poem here today. I'm glad you have more to share into May. I'm so enjoying the various responses to the prompt. You are a good poetry champion.

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

As someone who doesn't always reach out when she should, I appreciate this beautiful poem and encouragement. Thank you, Linda. Also interesting how closely the message echoes your post from January 2018, Tabatha!

Liz Steinglass said...

Linda, this is beautiful, such a good metaphor for describing this feeling.

Whispers from the Ridge said...

Beautiful writing by Linda as always! Thank you for sharing, Tabatha! I love the drifting boat image it created in my mind :)

Kay said...

Such a perfect and poignant poem for these times as so many are feeling adrift and it seems even harder to reach out to ask for help.

Buffy Silverman said...

Oh I love Linda's poem--such a perfect metaphor and especially resonant for this time of drifting.

I'd like to do the summer swap--I think I missed the original announcement, which seems to be a common theme of mine recently. Are you having a choice of the number of poems we write? If so, sign me up for two. Thanks for organizing, Tabatha.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I like how this poem acknowledges that we trail a bowline even when we drift out into the fog, that there's a way for those who are paying attention to reel us back in, even when we don't know how to ask for help. Beautifully lonesome, Linda.

Bridget Magee said...

Beautiful and necessary poem as we all navigate these stormy waters, Linda. Thank you, Tabatha for continuing your TIWYK series. :)

Margaret Simon said...

A beautiful metaphor for loneliness.

Molly Hogan said...

This is such a beautiful metaphor poem, Linda. Thanks for sharing, Tabatha, and for curating such a wonderful collection this month. I missed the initial Summer Poetry Swap announcement as well--Is there still a choice about how many swaps to sign up for?

Carol Varsalona said...

In this muddle of mixed emotions that we find ourselves in during our Quarantine Life, Linda shares the feeling of many in such a beautifully poetic way. Thank you for sharing this haunting poem, Tabatha, and thank you Linda for writing it.

jama said...

Thanks for sharing Linda's poem, which perfectly describes what so many of us are going through right now. Trying to keep afloat in stormy waters, reaching for a lifeline, the uneasy feelings of being adrift and untethered. Spot on metaphor.

Karen Eastlund said...

Moorings are so important. This poem emphasized that, and gave me a feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thanks for sharing this evocative poem.

Michelle Kogan said...

Powerful melancholic poem Linda, hoping that those many voices needing to be pulled back in to safety will be heard and acted on. And these folks adrift need to know as your earlier post Tabatha, so poignantly tells us "I am in your boat." Thanks for sharing Linda's poem and the link to your "Boat" post.

Ruth said...

Thanks, Linda and Tabatha.

KatApel - katswhiskers.wordpress.com said...

Oh Linda, this has your heart all over it. What a beautiful post and poem. We surely do need friends and family to anchor us at this time. Thank-you for giving us this space, Tabatha.