Welcome, dear friends!
This week’s poem touches on something very near and dear to my heart… rhythm.
Many of you who know me will recall that I have been drumming since I was seven years old.
I grew up surrounding myself with the rhythms of drum gods like Neil Peart (Rush), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and Stewart Copeland (The Police), to name just a few. And that percussive feel permeates many of my poems… including this one.
Even though this poem rhymes quite traditionally, AA BB CC, etc, the last rhyming word of each line does not (necessarily) control the cadence. Generally, it is the punctuation and occasional line breaks that drive it.
That said, the intention is to leverage a poetic device like rhythm to enhance the reader’s experience with the poem… and this poem definitely has a lot to take in: life/death themes, some Celtic mythology, the devotion of true love. So enjoy!!
Love to hear your reactions, thoughts, feelings in the Comments Section below. Thanks.
-PS Conway ☘ ☘ ☘
☘ ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘
constancy of the tide
take my arm, my love, let us make haste
new day dawns chaste, no time to waste
down ancient flights, witness the sunrise
yawn wide whilst somnolent day fills skies
remorseless surf serenades us
in Selkie song sweet, intoned thus,
midst their portentous comely cries
of a fate our fevered faith belies
for if today, my final breath falls
it shall be tinged in salted Selkie calls
filled with the constancy of the tide
our love captured in sunrise, eyes wide,
beside your side, no further harm
to breach the Divide, safe upon your arm
i step serene into the sea
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing
Thank you much, Dianna, for the kind words! Cheers 🥂 🙏🏻🌹
What a love story, almost song like in its rhythm! “Filled with the constancy of the tide, our love captured in sunrise, eyes wide,” love the beauty in these two lines.
Awwww, PS! I love this so much. Appreciate you, my friend!! Thanks! 🙏🏻🍷🌹💙✨
This is yout most joyous poem that I’ve read. I love its quick pace and sing-songy feel. I can feel their arms swingkng back and forth holing hands, like they’re skipping. I refuse to read the last line as a suicidal. They are surely just frolicking!
Love it, Naomi… thanks!! I like the frolicking thought, too… beats the alternative!! 🦭🍷🙏🏻🌹💙✨
Being in Scotland presently, and having stood seaside on many occasions, I feel this poem intensely and, although the last line is perhaps open for interpretation, I see it as a way and a wanting to capture a moment in eternity. The sea is a lovely keeper. Beautiful work here, PS.
Julie, so thrilled you connected with the poem. And I absolutely think your interpretation of the last line is legit – and so beautiful! Thanks so much… and enjoy Scotland! We’re taking my dad to Ireland for his 80th birthday in a few weeks (and can’t wait to stand seaside, myself)! 🦭🙏🏻🌹🍷💙✨
Loved this you took two of favorite things … poetry and the sea. I felt love there.
Thanks for sharing two of your fav things, Jan! Lots of love there, cheers. 🦭🌹🍷🙏🏻✨