Life’s Ocean

Jan 6

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Life’s Ocean
 
Ocean relentless ebb and flow
Constantly changing the surface of the sand
Life’s joys and sorrows come and go
Reach out to meet them with outstretched hand
 
Gently soothing or raging destructively
Ever an awe inspiring sight
Peace and fury alternating
Touching us all a constant fight
 
White water mounting or crystal clear
A thing of beauty to behold
Our feelings change with circumstance
Altering as our lives unfold
 
Water lapping gently to shore
Leaving its debris on the beach
Thus we humans leave something behind
Affecting those we strive to reach
 
Life’s ocean relentless ebb and flow
Ever changing the depth of our being
Feel freely its varied elements
So empty a life never seeing
 
Tricia 4/93
 

About triciabertram

I have written all my life. Writing helps me to make sense of a world I often don’t understand. Poetry is my supreme solace, closely followed by literature and music. When my son ended his life in 1999 I embarked on the most difficult journey of my life, my grief journey. To survive in this unknown, harsh landscape I had to write. It was for me, the only way I could even begin to move forward. Then in 2009 my darling husband died suddenly and so my journey continues. I write about other issues but because of my life experience, grief and death are continuing themes in my writing life. In our culture I believe there is a fear of death, an inability to accept the inevitability of our mortality, and this creates enormous difficulties for the bereaved and those around them. I have begun this blog in the hope I will create a small ripple in the pond of fear that is currently drowning the reality of death and grief. I will continue to skim the stones of my truth, watch them bounce, and see how many ripples I can make.

Posted on January 6, 2012, in Esoteric Offerings, Poems and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.

  1. joetwo | January 6, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    “So empty a life never seeing” That is so true Tricia. How often do we forget what is there before it is too late?

    Reply
  2. Eric Alagan | January 6, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    “…Our feelings change with circumstance…”

    Yes, very true. Love this and the above line touched…Sometimes, the places that we enjoyed with loved ones, now hold only sad memories…circumstances change.

    Reply
  3. belfastdavid | January 6, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    We come from a very similar place tricia –

    Rebound

    The tide comes in,
    the sea roars and boils,
    crashes in great waves on the strand,
    beats itself against the sea wall,
    throws great clouds of spray skywards,
    demonstrates its enormous power,
    its incredible energy.

    Then it goes out,
    Everything is still,
    the tide driven back from the shore,
    distant ripples at the sea’s edge,
    the energy seeming all spent;
    the power – not gone, just rebuilding,
    restoring, re-energising.

    Reply
  4. Christine Moran | January 7, 2012 at 12:10 am

    This is a beautiful poem Tricia.

    There is a well known phrase “this too shall pass” and I think your lines

    “Life’s joys and sorrows come and go
    Reach out to meet them with outstretched hand…

    encapsulate the essence of this poem for me.

    Love

    Christine x

    Reply
  5. triciabertram | January 7, 2012 at 12:31 am

    Joe thank you for your comment. I wrote this poem before life’s ocean enveloped me in the tsunami of grief, and yet I find it is all still true for me.

    Reply
  6. triciabertram | January 7, 2012 at 12:32 am

    Thanks Eric,
    And sometimes the places visited with loved ones can become even more precious.

    Reply
  7. Its.Sall | January 7, 2012 at 5:07 am

    Haai
    I have nominated you for the Versatile Blog award. I hope you like it. You certainly deserve it.
    http://poemfromreality.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  8. Thomas Davis | January 7, 2012 at 1:36 pm

    Our feelings change with circumstance
    Altering as our lives unfold

    This poem about the ebb and flow of the sea and the ebb and flow of human beings has and ebb and flow that sweeps us into the wave of the sea and our individual lives that is a song well sung. I especially like the above two lines, the center of the poem to me.

    Reply
    • triciabertram | January 7, 2012 at 7:42 pm

      Thomas I wrote this poem almost 20 years ago. It was for me, a coming to terms with some of life’s painful realities. At that time I had no idea just how pain filled my life was to become. When I rediscovered it recently, it comforted me in a way I can’t describe.

      Reply
  9. John Stevens | January 8, 2012 at 3:50 am

    That’s a fresh and pertinent image: debris left by the tide on the beach, something we humans leave behind in striving to reach other people. I like that.

    Reply
  10. Edmund Baffour Awuah | January 8, 2012 at 9:06 am

    I do poetry myself and I’ve really enjoyed your piece. Very tight rhymes…..

    Reply

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