Resonance Poem by Glen Kappy
Resonance
Some things
strike a chord in us
and stay with us
even if we don't know why.
'The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls'
was the first poem
that this happened to me—
the image of those footprints
that the waves effaced from sand
plucked on something in me.
What could I know
when I read this as a boy
of death, impermanence—
had I even heard that word?
But still it stayed.
I knew beaches, sand
and the imprints
that my feet made in it—
this I could understand.
And the years went by
which can be measured
in the cycles of the tides
and now near seventy
I better know its meaning.
But the rhythms of that poem
that soothe just like a lullaby
calm me even so.
thank you, laurie! this is one of three poems i wrote yesterday- which may be a record for me. this one had an earlier incarnation, then the idea came- while vacuuming (! ?) i think it was. -glen
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/9/2024 12:13:44 AM # 1.0.0.1119
This poem fully embodies its title. I felt the poem resonant in me even on my first reading. But with my second reading stanzas 5 & 6 stood out especially: the imagery of beaches and the sea convey the sense of overpowering time, with the tide erasing our brief presence. I'm reminded of Keats' despairing words I AM ONE WHOSE NAME IS WRIT IN WATER, in other words, all trace of his existence will be erased by death. Oh, how wrong he was! I agree with Laurie - this is a poem to be set for a soulful violin.
daniel, again i am touched by your comments. i very much appreciate them. i didn't know that line of keats'. his sonnet that begins, when i have fears that i may cease to be, rates with me as one of the best in the english language (the only one i really know) . and i think of him as only second to shakespeare to earn the word mellifluous. sad, and as you point out, wrong about his self-assessment. but for him, for all of us, i find comfort in this line that comes to me, our lives are hid with God (a paraphrase, i think, from paul) . thankfully, glen