Farther Out Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

when you're young you're still so close to the shore


you could reach with one hand and touch the leaves


you've seen since childhood the purple shadow on the floor.


you don't know yet as you launch farther out things will start


to float past you as though on a separate flood


or someone waving to you on the escalator


going in the opposite direction until


they disappear over the ridge you'll never reach.


and you think with a start: that was me


the way I used to be


and you adjust. and think It's not so bad.


I'm still midstream and suddenly you wake up


from a fairly long dream and think


my God I; m drifting farther out


than I have ever been


where are the moorings.


you would give anything to dive


into the beautiful foundering of your life


and bring out even one bracelet.


but you survived.


there has to be a reason why.


as slow as the clocks tick or as fast


you'll reach your cloudy destination,


home at last, among the strawberries


mary angela douglas 22 april 2020