Little boats moored to buoys in the bay
softly bump each other,
cuddling like cats in the fog,
that curls
around the pilings of the pier, posts that appear
then vanish in the peaceful fog.
The boats nod as if sleeping, nuzzling
the necks of the pier, knowing
more than we think, moored
for the moment, but mindful
of wind-thrown waves that have washed them,
wild storms that have tossed them.
They know the sea is there, silent for now,
serene and at rest; they sense
its vast distances, its depths, and its dangers.
They don’t forget where they are.
They’re lucky, they know, to live here,
to lie on this languid water,
to sail again tomorrow, to taste again
the salt, to tack into the wind—
like us, who stand here, steadfast
in our faith that God stays with us still,
whose fog-veiled seas may save or sack us
but in the end will silently receive us,
whose hurricanes may harry us, yet
who at last will have us home.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
Listen to the audio recording:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31 — 2.1MB)