ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

COME ABOUT ... Maureen Clifford © The #ScribblyBarkPoet


There are rumbles in the dark - he hears them
and lights in the sky - he sees them as well.
He's just one of many who have these out-of-body moments -
distractions, daydreams, reflections of our past.

Where next?
New directions taken on board
the route to a safe harbour plotted.
He ploughs on, through summer storms and gale force winds
shrugging off the intermittent drownpours
of tears, and emotions,
letting them wash against him as they will.


Powerless to stop them - all he can do
is ride them out, trim his sails,
stick to his course as best he can
and at the end
if there's a little red port left in the bottle
take the starboard tack for home.

Every drop counts –
every teardrop, every raindrop
At some stage we all need to build a bridge
to get over them …
over the outpouring of emotion,
over the flood,
over whatever it is that troubles us.

And at the end of the day
when we are at our lowest ebb,
when we feel drained and dispirited,
when we feel there is nothing left for us –
It is then we need to change tack,
come about
and give thanks for three precious gifts
Love, hope and life.

Without the storms
how would we ever appreciate the rainbows?

13.2.2024

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Terry

Hi Maureen

I haven't been able to reply because I was locked out from posting.

More later.

Terry

Ooh, a very clever analogy with an excellent message, and I like the title as well. This is lovely, Maureen. xx

Liked it Maureen, certainly a different slant in the non rhyme approach. I had a couple of reads before the thrust of the poem came through, but when it did, very clever!
Love the way the nautical theme is carried through with the analogies!
Cheers
Ron

Thanks Catherine and Ron, glad you liked it - my late son was a 'nautical' bloke as most of you know and I could hear his voice in my head saying to me as Cyclone Alfred dithered about and I was getting a bit panicky - "Calm down Mum, it is just a bit of piss and wind" No frills and fancies in our family.
I guess he was very much on my mind when I wrote it - him and the rest of our family. I miss my boy