Poetry for Peace. Day 16. Poem 16. Where I Am,

Wow! A quarter to midnight! And today's poem is done in the nick of time - number sixteen, I do believe, of a mere 365, for am pledged, fool that I am, to write and publish one poem a day for an entire year.

I hope you like it as much as I sweated writing it.

Where I am

by Steve Cook

Sometimes I think 
I'll take leave of my senses,
Walk out the door,
Leave now-I'm-supposed-to
With no fixed abode
And hit the road again.

I'll trek once more, 
Like I did before
In the not-so-long ago 
Scrap-book of recent adventure,
The eternal beaches 
Of the never-ending shore.

It stretches to infinity like my dreams,
The back-of-beyond, 
Middle-of-nowhere
Far-reaching certainty of seeming eternity
That carries mortality in a backpack
In the middle distance,
Leaving me feeling big as a country.

The memories come unbidden still,
After the years slipped away 
Like a missed flight,
Laden with longing, 
The sense of belonging
Like lost luggage.

Seems like I'm everywhere and nowhere,
Forever almost lost yet not quite found, 
Deliberately pitched at the edge 
Of the un-mapped forest,
Making a vain quest for sleep 
By the restless beach under the stars.

I'm lying there again
On the edge of the limelight,
Hearing the sound 
Of the pounding breakers
And the subliminal whisper
Of moonlit fingers 
Sweeping the soft sand
Like clock hands.

Sometimes.
Sometimes I think like that,
Surrendering to nostalgia,
Looking back at the twilight 
Instead of forward toward the dawn.
Most times though 
I recollect myself and remember
I'm always right here
And quite frankly happy
Where I am.

click the piuc