We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

1.3.23

The Sea Doesn't Need Us

The book I just finished says:

‘the waves roll toward us ...

endlessly, as they will for all time.’


A comforting thought in the face of 

our collective doom – that something 

would go on unchanged. (May it be so!)






(The book is When We Believed in Mermaids, by Barbara O'Neal.)


Shared with Poets and Storytellers United at Friday Writings #66.


 

22 comments:

  1. The global response to covid vs. to climate change shows how money and power work. Perhaps the earth will finally become a better place - and start a new cycle of evolution, one in which the apex creation is not so stupid as to destroy itself. :(

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    1. It's a great shame that money and power seem to be accompanied by so much short-sightedness!

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  2. Good one Loved how you expressed ' that the waves roll towards us' That's exactly how it feels and I think it is so

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    1. Well that was actually Barbara O'Neal, whom I was quoting, who said that. I agree, vividly descriptive phrase.

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  3. Yes indeed Rosemary - the sea, the sun, the stars still all shine on lovingly for us.. A beautiful thought, so elegantly and tenderly expressed... Thank you for that from Scott...

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  4. If anything global warming would increase the size of the oceans...

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  5. I haven't read the book so when you quoted the "the waves roll towards us" I thought how evolution will have its way in the end but certainly humankind can significantly slow down the inevitable and enjoy the richness of existence longer.

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    1. It's a book worth reading, but was not about the subject of my poem; just that those phrases sparked this response in me.

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  6. Yes, it did make me take a big inhale (like a wave) of relief.

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  7. I love the title of the book. i also like how you began the poem - it makes me feel that no matter how awful we are, the land welcomes us. (of course, it can also destroy us as well).

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  8. that something would go on unchanged
    (May it be so!)

    Famous last words Rosemary! Hopefully changes if they come may not be drastic!

    Hank

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  9. There is comfort in knowing that the waves will keep on rolling in....beautifully expressed.....Rall

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  10. It's nice--and soothing--to think that even when so many good things are taken away, some good will remain to warm us when things get cold.

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    1. I also like to contemplate it still remaining even if we're gone.

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  11. Yeah, the sea doesn't need us. It might be better off without us.
    I have not read the book. Perhaps I should find a copy. :)

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    1. It's a beautifully written book, but has nothing to do with the subject of this poem. Just that those lines set me thinking.

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