Uncharted

Am I a fool to want to float,
to sail away on a leaky boat,
exploring life on canals and rivers,
trimming sails in all kinds of weather
until I reach the estuary,
the final frontier before open sea,
uncharted depths that terrify me?

Kim M. Russell, 2017

Uncharted

My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads A Fine Day for Sailing Away

To begin this month-long celebration of daily poems, Brendan has drawn a Tarot card. He says that various decks portray the Ace of Wands as a hand coming out of a cloud, the rod which Moses used to strike the water of life, or the club of Hercules. There is usually a river to cross, a mountain to climb. (And yes, a bone to pick.) It is an invitation to voyage.

He tells us that in Tarot tradition, the Ace of Wands is a card of optimism and invention. Aces are lucky, and the fire-suit of Wands strikes a match for creativity, excitement and adventure. The Ace of Wands also signifies the energy and dedication required to complete a large task, like that of writing a poem a day for a month.

The card is drawn, our quest announced! He wants us to get out the door and to the shore where the boat is waiting. What is our inspiration, what describes the journey we are about to undertake? What is the inner nature of this journey?

And, Brendan says, since today is also April Fool’s Day, let’s cross or crown our journey with The Fool Tarot card, that madman-beggar-child-bard whose fool errand is pure sunshine and dizzy precipice. Which is also what Lorraine is doing over at Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix.

34 thoughts on “Uncharted”

  1. Thanks Kim — You ask an important question here, about the difference between freshwater and deepwater sailing, voyaging amid the known and surrender to the uncharted. There must be quite a moment of terror when one feels the bottom drop away from the keel toward abyss.

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    1. Thanks for reading, Jacqui, and thanks for the invite. I spent so much on line this morning, I’m determined not to go back to the computer again this evening. But I will pop over on my Kindle after dinner. My typing won’t be very good though 😊

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  13. Having spent some time, on the Pacific Ocean, near the coast of Vancouver, BC, I would choose the rivers and lakes, thank you very much, Kim. There’s nothing wrong, in knowing one’s limitations, especially, in situations that may place you, in peril.

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