Note from 4 April, 2012: I have been reading a book on navigating transitions, which has been a blessing of retirement advice and spatial imagery. It reminds me of another favorite, The Phantom Tollbooth, as I jump to conclusions more joyfully than timidly. Timidity just wouldn't span the gap!
The LineI stepped over the line I once drew in the sand,letting go of the firm jaw of resolve and the stubborn prideof I-can-do-everything. In this new terrain,I am a cartographer of possibility, a Lewis and Clarkof a new landscape. Grace accompanied meon the old path, and She crossedthe boundary of certainty with me, indeed--She challenges me to dance into the dreamsI thought beyond my reach. She dares meto waltz into freedom not knowing the ley of the land.
Note from 11 June 2012: Originally posted for NaPoWriMo 2012, I am re-posting for today's Open Link Monday at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. I think it might need a different title, but after reading and rereading, I still trust its economy and truth.
Copyright © 2012 S.L.Chast
Chosen for book 11/2013
so often we must move that line and swallow some pride
ReplyDeleteYes. This time it was to a freer place.
DeleteI SO resonate with this poem - love, especially, "in this new terrain I am a cartographer of possibility, a Lewis and Clark of a new landscape". WOW! The final line is FANTASTIC!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sherry. I hope retirement is being just fine with you.
DeleteSo much of moving forward requires letting go. Written with both incisive language and effective succinctness.
ReplyDeleteMy program often eats my replies to you, giving me lots of practice in trying to write the same thing twice. This time it is easy: I am grateful that you make formal comments as well as thematic ones. I am ecstatic when you like what you read. I hope you would give more constructive critique if necessary.
DeleteAnd I am curious: On your website where you say your occupation is "decaying slowly," that is another example of your wry humor?
Brilliant. Grace is the greatest motivator of such stuff.
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks!
DeleteHelen has left a new comment on your post "Poem #3: The Line":
ReplyDeleteYour poem goes hand in hand with 'About Me' in your profile. It's nice to learn more about fellow bloggers!
Thank you, Helen. Sorry I erased your comment by mistake. I am now resurrecting you, but it's never quite the same, is it?
http://woonietest.blogspot.com/
DeleteI really like these lines:
ReplyDelete"I am a cartographer of possibility, a Lewis and Clark
of a new landscape"
I am far from retirement but this line resonates strongly with me:
http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.ca/2012/06/piano.html
Thank you. I think the line could also be a move, a change in relationship, etc. May grace be with you.
DeleteI love the idea of dancing into the dreams that you thought were beyond your reach. After retirement is a chance to do just that. A rebirth really! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, rebirth is the right word for some of us. I have an early retirement with disability, but I am dancing just the same. Without the stress of full-time teaching, the pain from the big 3 (pinched nerves, arthritis and fibromyalgia) is manageable! Yay! A new lease on life. I have started to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you've captured the possibilities that come along in our stage of life...and the title works for me!
ReplyDelete"Our stage of life" never sounded lovelier. Thank you, Victoria, may Grace be with you.
DeleteWhen Grace is your best friend....things are going to alright. What an eye opening piece and a wonderful outlook on anew life. This lifted my spirit in more ways than one. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It lifted my spirits, too, to find this poem within me. May Grace be with you.
DeleteI like the flow of the narrative here. It's easy to have that "I can do anything attitude" if we always stay in familiar territory, isn't it? Good for you for entering new terrain! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't get that kind of stubborn lockjaw again, though. I hope I can ease up on myself a little. That was a workaholic speaking.
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