Slacktide

If even the great ocean takes a pause between the busyness of tides, so should I in the busyness of my days. (This poem is part of a poetography piece.)

Earth’s productive pulse

depends upon

the tides’ harmonic conflict

 

of pushes to

foamy hysteria and pulls to

muddy stagnation.

 

But there is a moment

when momentums cease,               

a lull between the doings

 

when even the great sea

recalls the import of pause

and suspends ambitions

 

on a glassy sigh of reflection.

There too will I take rest

at the stand of the tide.

Reviews

[Aidan Singletary]

"there too will I take rest/at the stand of the tide"
That is such a powerful line in a poignantly powerful poem. It was a joy to read! Keep writing and I will keep reading!

[HumanNaturePoet]

Thank you, Aidan! :D I'm glad the last line stood out and that you enjoyed the poem. :)

[John the Baptist]

This one may be a cautionary tale warning us to avoid the excesses of overindulgence and stagnation. When we find ourselves going too far in either direction, we should seek the slack tide. Good advice.

[HumanNaturePoet]

Thank you for reviewing! :) That is very much what I was thinking - we often are "all or nothing", and sometimes just need to stop. I"m glad my intention came through.

[JayG]

• of pushes to foamy hysteria and pulls to muddy stagnation.

It seems you've not been on a beach though a tidal cycle. No mud is involved there, and the surf changes intensity based on the bottom, not the fact of being closer or further from the high tide mark.

I'm guessing you're thinking of a back-bay situation where the low tide can expose mud-flats. But if so, the reader can't know that. In any case, there's no stagnation taking place in the short time of the mud's exposure. And high tide doesn't bring, "foamy hysteria," (except in such places as The Bay of Fundy), just more water.

The problem is that when we read back our own work we have two things the reader lacks: Context and intent. So for you it works perfectly. But when you say, "Earth’s productive pulse depends upon the tides’ harmonic conflict," My reaction is, "what in the pluperfect hells is a productive pulse?" Other than producing blood movement, what does our pulse produce? But because you're aware of your intent for the meaning of the phrase, for you it's dead on target. That's one reason why we need to do our editing from the seat of the reader, and, why it's best not to talk TO the reader.

Sorry to pee in the tidal pool, but I thought a reaction from the perspective of the reader might help.

One suggestion, I give to pretty much everyone is to download Mary Oliver's, A Poetry Handbook. The lady is positively brilliant, and well worth reading.

Hang in there, and keep on writing.

Jay Greenstein
https://jaygreenstein.wordpress.com/category/the-craft-of-writing/the-grumpy-old-writing-coach/

[HumanNaturePoet]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my piece Jay! :) Ironically, I have grown up on the beaches of St. Simons Is., Ga, and now work on them doing daily kayak tours in the inlets and through the marshes, so I am fairly familiar with them. ;) Funny you should mention the Bay of Fundy: coastal Georgia is just second behind it in tidal range (ours is 10ft); so yes, we also get lots of that lovely sea foam. And because we are at the mouth of the mighty Altamaha River (aka "Amazon of the US") we have a lot of silt/pluff mud on our beaches. When the tide drops - especially a negative tide during a full moon - the mud flats and salt pans are wonderfully exposed in our marshes and along our beaches. I'm glad you asked for clarification about the "productive pulse", I will work on getting my answer into my poem. ;) Because our area, like so many river deltas, is a vital estuary and relies heavily on the tides to bring in/move around the nutrients/food in the water, I consider it "productive". (I think the local shrimpers and crabbers would agree.) As for Mary Oliver's book - one of my favorites! :D I have been using it to teach poetry in my writing classes for years! She is one of my favorite poets, right up there with Bryant, Lowell, and Murray! :) Thank you again for your input and perspective - that's how we hone our craft, right!?