Knee-deep wading
in electric yellow waters
of mud-laden stream
the coveted prize –
a mutated version –
Christ’s fish hovers
arms reach away –
have touched it –
recoiled out of fear.
Status is stagnation –
movement stymied
current lacking
Only the constant
thrum of winged
pests belligerence
punctures stillness,
irritates – its hard
shelled turquoise
body reminiscent
of Halcyon days,
Caribbean sunsets.
What evil virus has
cemented me here,
strangled nomadic
dreams, mired me
in polluted waters
imbued with cruel
uncertainty, faith-
less, immobilized
by incomprehensible?
(Watery Stagnation first appeared in August, 2016, and is edited here.
Powerful, V.J.! I wish I could say this and believe it will come true, which is I hope the world will become a brighter place to exist. I shared this to Go Dog Go Cafe to Promote a Poet/Writer Thursday, August 29, 2019.
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Thanks so much, Eugenia. I guess we struggle along for a reason, not yet apparent.
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I agree!
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Wow, as always a powerful poem tightly woven together.
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Thank you!
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My pleasure always.
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You’ve conveyed the sense of despairing stagnation very effectively in this poem.
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Thank you Liz!
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