Dancing on the Edge of the World

the edge of the world
is where the clouds and waves meet
where we dance and sing

Kim M. Russell, 9^th September 2018

My response to Carpe Diem Weekend Meditiation #49 Clouds and Waves by Rabindranath Tagore

This month, all the Weekend Meditations are kind of ‘distillations’, in which we are given a long poem and we have to capture its essence in a haiku or tanka. For September, all the poems are by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), and this week’s one is:

Clouds And Waves

 Mother, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me-
“We play from the time we wake till the day ends.
We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon.”
I ask, “But how am I to get up to you ?”
They answer, “Come to the edge of the earth, lift up your
hands to the sky, and you will be taken up into the clouds.”
“My mother is waiting for me at home, “I say, “How can I leave
her and come?”
Then they smile and float away.
But I know a nicer game than that, mother.
I shall be the cloud and you the moon.
I shall cover you with both my hands, and our house-top will
be the blue sky.
The folk who live in the waves call out to me-
“We sing from morning till night; on and on we travel and know
not where we pass.”
I ask, “But how am I to join you?”
They tell me, “Come to the edge of the shore and stand with
your eyes tight shut, and you will be carried out upon the waves.”
I say, “My mother always wants me at home in the everything-
how can I leave her and go?”
They smile, dance and pass by.
But I know a better game than that.
I will be the waves and you will be a strange shore.
I shall roll on and on and on, and break upon your lap with
laughter.
And no one in the world will know where we both are.   

Rabindranath Tagore