Swept away

I walked by the sea,
and there I sat:
there I saw

that there were forces
beyond my control.

The sea,
like a blanket
pulled one way
then the other,
was never quite still.

I wondered
what it would be like
to leave caution behind,
to jump,
to be lost in the tide.

to abandon myself

to these forces beyond my control.

And so I took
those first
tentative steps.

I dipped my toes,
and began to feel:

to feel it wash over:
enough to tease my nervous feet,
enough to entice.

And so further in I continued,
until I could no longer stand.

Out of my depth

I continued to struggle,
to fight,
to keep control.

Part of me wants to return,
part of me likes to feel the ground:
solid,
firm,
in control.

But still the current pulls me.
Sometimes I fight,
but sometimes,
when I can fight no more,
I let go.

I abandon myself.

And it is here,
in this place of fear,
that I have found you.

Sometimes I feel the need
to return
to withdraw.

I look back to the shore.

The sea has become choppy:
it looks safer on the shore,
where I can reach the ground.

But it was here
that I found you:
not there.
I am not sure I can swim.

If I head towards the shore,
it is because I need to:
I need
to feel the ground again.

But I will stay in the water,
and eventually,
the tide will take me again,
and return me

to you.

M. McMurray 02/10/2013

For your safety

For your safety,

Do not run,

Do not skip,

Do not cycle,

Do not skate.

Walk:

Preferably in single file.

Conform.

Try not to look.

Try not to hear.

Try not to touch.

In fact,

Just try not to act too much

Like

You're alive.

M. McMurray 13/8/2013

On the move

They come and they go:

Never quite here, never quite there,

But always on the move.

Some faces worn and tired,

From feet that have walked too long.

Others betray a little smile

As they remember journeys done before:

Not the first time they've walked this path.

Others, with the next generation in their hands,

Smile as their journeys are shared.

But nobody quite stays where they are.

This is a moment in time,

Trapped as though in a jar

Like a fly

Eager to move on

Because they're never quite here,

Never quite there,

And so they come and go.

M. McMurray 13/8/2013

Solitude

Caillte

Lost here with thoughts of wind,

And words floating,

Swimming.

The world passes by.

This is the place where it pauses:

A refuge from the storm.

Here the wind slows

Until it stops and is no more.

A place where I can watch and wonder:

Caillte until the wind starts again.

M. McMurray 13/8/2013

* Caillte is the Irish word for 'lost'