To the Island, for MVB, Jan 2, 2024

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       Click on Photos to enlarge. What do you see in these beach finds?

To the Island

If I sent you to an island, it would be for your own good.
It wouldn’t be unwillingly, with chains and ropes and hood.
I’d lure you off to be with me, surrounded by the sea.
You wouldn’t have to talk or walk or be in love with me.

The objects that I’d give you are a camera, notepad, pen
and a computer with no wifi to connect to where you’ve been.
You’d live in the present with the details of your life,
examining where you have been without the daily strife.

With no Internet distraction, no ringing of the phone,
sometimes you find a part of you that you have never known.
There’s something that is lacking in what’s crowded in one’s brain.
It’s hard to find ourselves when we must live the whole world’s pain.

In the morning, you would walk the beach, move inward with the tide,
examining what treasures the waves conceal inside.
A stone shaped like a check mark or a continent or heart–
it’s hard to suspend looking, once you’ve made a start.

You may take photos of them or collect them in your pocket—
something to make art from, or a picture for your locket.
Another way to get inside is what you write about them.
If you have secrets, it’s inevitable that you’ll out them.

The sea’s part of something larger and each treasure is a clue
connecting the whole universe to something within you.
This is why each object plucked up from the sand
is part of you that you’ve reclaimed—there within your hand.

What you see in what you find is what you have inside.
Perhaps it’s something you don’t know or that you know and hide.
The very fact that it is here revealed for you to see
may mean that you are ready to finally set it free.

The sea with all its treasures and its recurring tide
is also found within you—safely tucked inside.
So look into a mirror—a metaphor, more or less;
if you are wondering if you’ve changed, you won’t have to guess.

You’ll look for things within yourself as closely as the sea
and find out more of who you are and who you want to be.
You’ll see the changes on your face that say you’ve become wise.
Deep worry lines around your mouth and laugh lines by your eyes.

And once that you have found yourself, you’ll find yourself again;
for you are always changing—refining what you’ve been.
Tucked off on an island like a wallflower on a shelf,
perhaps you’ll find the whole wide world there within yourself.

And when you see the world within, you’ll want to live in it,
for it’s a world that you have power to change as you see fit.

 

For MVB the prompt is Island

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About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

19 thoughts on “To the Island, for MVB, Jan 2, 2024”

  4. isaiah46ministries's avatarisaiah46ministries

    Judy,
    What a beautiful poem, so poignant. I look forward to finding more of me this year. I changed churches on Dec, 31, for that exact reason. I tired to embrace another style of worship, but found my spirit hungry. Happy New Year, and yes, 2024 will be a time for discovery.

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      1. isaiah46ministries's avatarisaiah46ministries

        I was ordained as a Baptist minister in the Black Baptist tradition. For nearly 30 years, I was an associate minister in black churches. But, when we moved back to Georgia, Douglas wanted to attend predominantly white churches because he prefers that style of worship, more sedate. He asked me to attend the same church, so I have been attending predominantly white churches, often the only black at Sunday school or Bible study. I see the world different having grown black in the South. I express how I see the world, after all, I am a sociologist. It made people at his church uncomfortable and there was a complaint that I was trying to go back to slavery, whatever that means.

        So, I stopped attending because some white people are fragile and feel what I say personally. So, I joined a predominantly black church on Sunday, where the service is what I like and nourishes my soul. I can clap my hands, raise my hands in the air, move to the beat as the Spirit moves and worship God as I have been taught without worrying that I am disturbing others. I am still Baptist and as my aunt would say, I’ll die a Baptist, although I do find Buddhism intersting but I don’t think a Christian Buddhist is allowed. I can be Rev, Dr. Regina at this new church and be a servant to the people. That’s what I need.

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