Peace: a poem about healing
written January 10th, 1995
peace
washing over me
gliding over me
breaking over me
playing over me
peace comes and washes over me
washing in sparkling clearness
carrying in fresh sustenance
taking back with it
terror fear pain sadness
leaving a smooth reach of my soul
peace comes and glides over me
a gentle front of sensation
moving across my body
bringing awareness and sensation
taking back with it
a dulling physical numbness
leaving a new reach of body
peace comes and breaks over me
a swirl of foam
gentle break of wave
momentarily hard angry strong
showing that soft gentle peaceful
doesn't have to mean weak victim passive
peace breaks over me
leaving a new reach of turbulent emotions
and gentle strength
peace comes and plays over me
stimulating my mind
tickling my body
moving my heart in new patterns
sometimes almost drowning me
other times just a trickle
but peace always plays over me
leaving a constantly revitalized reach of potential
this reach never forgets
doesn't forget the tides that came before
doesn't forget the patterns that were there before
but allows peace
to wash
glide
break
play
and see what new patterns will be made
This was the first poem I wrote. I was living in the state I grew up in, in college. I woke up one morning and it seemed like it was there in my mind, fully formed. It still stuns me. I wrote for a few years, and then stopped until recently. I am glad to be writing again.
A dictionary says that "Reach" can be a noun meaning an uninterrupted stretch of water. In middle school I fell in love with Ursula K. LeGuin, her short stories, and the Earthsea trilogy. It's more than a trilogy now, but then it was 3 fantasy books. In those books, one of the main empires is divided into sections, called Reaches. I'm sure that is where the word comes from in this poem.