river current

You were the river
eroding shorelines
constantly flowing.

I believed
I could stand on the sandbar
in the middle
and you wouldn’t hurt me.

You swept me up
and into the current
proving how helpless
I was all along.

out of the current

When I wrote about you
I hardly had to think at all.
Words appeared on the paper
as if from nowhere,
or a power higher and stronger than myself.

Flowing like a river downstream
I had no choice but to follow it,
with words to describe you, us,
in hundreds of ways
sweeping me with the current.

I am out of the current now.
There may be peace in calm, cool water
but also discomfort.
I wish not to write of you any longer,
but I cannot find words for anything else.

the tidal wave

I have stayed away,
kept my distance,
for fear that if I came too close
and opened the door
the tidal wave would erupt,
tearing down the door and the frame
with nothing to stop the water
until it slowed down to a stream.

I thought I needed time,
more lumber and nails,
to build the frame stronger
to make it withstand the force
building.  I could feel it building
against the back of my eyes
within the cage of my chest
around the bones in my hands.

To wait just a while longer
would allow the wave to rescind
and I could open the door just a crack,
letting out the water I wanted,
under my control.
Believed this, I did.

Now, here I stand,
with the door open wide
and only a trickle of water passing
around and over my feet.
The anticipated wave is gone,
and only a small, calm pond lies
in the distance.

I was ready for the wave.
I expected and wanted it.
Still it has not come
leaving my dry skin uncomfortable
like a garden yearning to grow
with the promise of rain
that never delivers.

The wave will come again I know
to not be denied past my door.
I can only guess when or where
but I will be there
armed with paper and a pen.