"tidewater" poems
When you left you took my heart
And I let you
Because I thought it would be easier
Not to care
But it doesn’t work that way,
And without it I am so dead inside
My body is a skeleton
Filled with crumpled leaves,
Hardened flowers,
Distant emotions, and fading memories
They subside like tidewater out to sea
I feel nothing, am nothing
Not even a ghost
Just a barely breathing being,
Dying six feet under the surface
Aug 24, 2016
Aug 24, 2016 at 12:45 AM UTC
Today forecasts rain, maybe a remnant of a hurricane
Umbrellas – check, Purse with moola – check,
Umbrella stroller (just in case) – check, we venture
out into the breezy air of Virginia,
As we walk, mother and child, along the path between
Tidewater and Prince Ann Road, I recollect myself;
Follow a pattern as familiar and whimsical as a kaleidoscope
that small forest marks a pathway - a three-way landmark -
my cute apartment complex,
a nearby community college,
a store with the lion emblazoned on the front.
As quickly I turn to scan my small daughter
who has again let go of my hand
for a private adventure of her own.
With worry and affection I walk back to grab
her small, soft hand,
and she looks up, and says,
“I think there's someone living in the forest!”
Glancing up into emerald trees, I see nothing, but I smile,
grab her hand, laugh at her imagination.
We continue our trek over a winding road
Prince Ann-- a queen mother and
her toddler princess.
Jan 27, 2019
Jan 27, 2019 at 2:30 AM UTC
I stand on an abandoned dock
There's nothing in the desolate water
Just me facing the wind, no one to talk
Blowing onto my face, salty tidewater
Eyes closed with clouds overhead
The wind blows, bringing in different things
grief, pain, loss, lies, all unsaid
But the wind runs its own course, caring for nothing
Yielding for none
So I stand there, fists clenched
Faced stoically towards the wind, I could run
I remember the people behind me, each entrenched
Those who rely on me to block the salty sea
Sometime they don't feel the breeze
At times they forget the wind even blows, if only they could see
I never could through, as my very soul it tries to seize
This is my duty, like a giant totem pole
Watching over my people, they are my pearl
Keeping my hands clenched, I think of my role
They are ignorant to the real world
But that keeps me locked to the world
Against each gust of wind
Then I remember the one before me and all his worth
The one I looked up to, the one I wish I could send
Always there looking off at the horizon
Waiting for something
But always blocking the wind and what lies within
At the time I knew nothing of these things
Then like the wind, he moved on
Leaving that patch of worn wood where he stood abandoned
But just because he left didn't mean the wind moved on
The wind destroyed the home my family had made so grand
I was left with a choice:
Let the winds destroy my home
Or listen to my inner voice
So I marched down to that dock all alone
The winds in my face
Threatening to knock me over every step I take
Hands against the wind I pressed against its chill embrace
Until I found the end of my fate
I placed my feet in the ground
Locked into place
So now I stand here not making a sound
But now there's something in the water
Ships coming into harbor
As they lower their anchor
They come out single file
The first walks out
"We've all braved the storm too"
Then she grabs hold of my hand
As if following her orders, the others do the same
One by one
Ship by ship
The line following the shore from my crowded dock begins to unify
And with each one of their cries
The wind slowly begins to die
Aug 14, 2018
Aug 14, 2018 at 10:52 PM UTC
There's a limit to your love | There's no limit to my love
Like a waterfall in slow motion | Like the floodwaters in motion, or
Like a map with no ocean | A vast and placid ocean
There's a limit to your love | There's no limit to my love
Your love, your love, your love | My love, my love, my love
There's a limit to your care | There's a limit to your care
So carelessly there, is it truth or dare | I thought it was there, is it truth or dare
There's a limit to your care | There's a limit to your care
There's a limit to your love | There's no limit to my love
Like a waterfall in slow motion | Like the tidewater in motion
Like a map with no ocean | Adrift on this calm ocean
There's a limit to your love | There's no limit to my love
Your love, your love, your love | My love, my love, my love
There's a limit to your love | There's no limit to my love
So carelessly there, is it truth or dare | You had it for years, these are my worst fears
There's a limit to your care | There's a limit to your care
Aug 4, 2017
Aug 4, 2017 at 1:53 PM UTC
It was that one last drop
that flooded a brimful hollow
Welling drop by drop . . .
Lingering , . . moment by moment,
belatedly over-flowing the restraint
slowly filled by reckoned time
Gathered teardrops surrendered
from vulnerable cup of thirsting blossom
Volatile bedewed petals gently sipping
dawn's velvet mist
A tender heart ... spilling the traces of hurt
Beneath the stains of time
hidden deep within
the enigmatic pools of your eyes
The moment of love
awoken,
is a boundless
awaited sunrise
It's as if a stifled river's trickle
reinvigorates thirst,
abating its own extinction
The will to be,
heeded in a last drop,
inspiriting
new breathe of life
long lost adrift,
alone in tidewater's
contrary
push and pull
Dreaming of Spooning water
from a broken vessel
into insoluble oceans
Each loving spoonful filled
with the overflowing love
from a broken heart
To rescue from endangering indifference,
knowing only what is loved can be saved
Will you touch this aching silence and let me know ?
Gaze your eyes into this lonely sea
and let the tide pull you in
Jesse Stillwater
Apr 19, 2018
Apr 19, 2018 at 11:42 AM UTC
Entwined like three snakes
7 to nine, i feel the Waves
little kisses on the backboard of stored
memosas
"just for love"
whats the name of that song?
each riff like a blade, cutting salt and ice
it made the sea, it made the Tides
Whispers
Dec 17, 2014
Dec 17, 2014 at 12:57 AM UTC
Took a ten mile drive
To the Bay of Fundy
The tides out for miles
We climb down the loose shale
On the beach we can hear the tidewater rushing
The red clay hills feel like a dream
The beauty of it all, wholesome and true
I could baptised my self in the muddy murky red
Jun 20, 2017
Jun 20, 2017 at 1:48 AM UTC
I am birthed from the verdant forest
Upon your openness
Distant surf breaks murmuring
Upon my grateful sailor’s ears
Under foot a tapestry of woven sand
In myriad patterns delights my downcast eyes
I open my palms to swallow the beauty
My heartaches ebb away
Like the tidewater before me
In reverence
I am alone
I am free
May 27, 2019
May 27, 2019 at 10:31 AM UTC