Poem: "The Til"
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "WIP" square in my 3-1-24 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.
"The Til"
the reservoir of all possible opportunities
still available to you at this point in your life --
all the countries you still have the energy to explore,
the careers you still have the courage to pursue,
the skills you still have time to develop,
the relationships you still have the heart to make --
like a pail of water you carry around in your head,
which starts off feeling like an overwhelming burden
but steadily draws down as you get older, splashing
gallons over the side every time you take a step
Possibilities are liquid
but not quite infinite,
taking the shape
of their container --
and that's you.
Imagine you carry
with you an invisible
bucket of potential
filled with all the things
that you could do but
have not yet done.
When you're hot and tired,
you stop to take a drink,
then carry on refreshed
by the new things you do.
It goes on like this for years,
a wellspring of ideas that
leads you through your days
as you create experiences.
Life is a work in progress
until suddenly it isn't,
like a bucket tumbling
from atop your head,
no longer full of water.
Curious, you look inside,
and discover, gleaming
with the last drops of water,
the shape of a golden key.
The moment you touch it,
the Gate opens and light
streams through it, like
summer sunlight spilling
into a dim and dusty garage,
illuminating the shadows.
Delighted by the sudden colors,
you step through, and your life
closes quietly behind you.
* * *
Notes:
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 10. Simon & Schuster, 2021.
"The Til"
the reservoir of all possible opportunities
still available to you at this point in your life --
all the countries you still have the energy to explore,
the careers you still have the courage to pursue,
the skills you still have time to develop,
the relationships you still have the heart to make --
like a pail of water you carry around in your head,
which starts off feeling like an overwhelming burden
but steadily draws down as you get older, splashing
gallons over the side every time you take a step
Possibilities are liquid
but not quite infinite,
taking the shape
of their container --
and that's you.
Imagine you carry
with you an invisible
bucket of potential
filled with all the things
that you could do but
have not yet done.
When you're hot and tired,
you stop to take a drink,
then carry on refreshed
by the new things you do.
It goes on like this for years,
a wellspring of ideas that
leads you through your days
as you create experiences.
Life is a work in progress
until suddenly it isn't,
like a bucket tumbling
from atop your head,
no longer full of water.
Curious, you look inside,
and discover, gleaming
with the last drops of water,
the shape of a golden key.
The moment you touch it,
the Gate opens and light
streams through it, like
summer sunlight spilling
into a dim and dusty garage,
illuminating the shadows.
Delighted by the sudden colors,
you step through, and your life
closes quietly behind you.
* * *
Notes:
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 10. Simon & Schuster, 2021.