Obsession

My greatest flaw

I am obsessed with open doors.

What is waiting,

where could it lead,

what endless sunrise is pouring

through the threshold?

I am driven by need,

and greed,

an incessant desire to know

what salt washed ocean has worn

seashells into dust.

Has frost etched his fingerprint

on the end of season roses?

I must keep moving for what would become

of me if my feet root into the ground?

Sparrows will nest in my hair,

spiders will weave in my ears,

bark will crawl over my winter-chilled

skin, and I must not be still.

I am obsessed with open doors.

Don’t you know there are mountain tops

buried beneath the sea?

Don’t you wonder

where they came from?

Were they ready for the water, when it

crashed over their peaks?

Have you ever considered

the pearlwort?

It paints sunshine across

fields of ice, where no one holds

breath for its bloom.

I must go to it, for what would become

of me if my bones set into place

and my eyes shuttered closed?

My skin will rust and my joints

will harden. Will I grow

accustomed to dark?

I am obsessed with open doors.

I must go through them.

On the other side is

tomorrow and I cannot wait

for it to arrive.

Reviews

[Phill Oz O'fee]

Loved the wordplay and how you probe the reader’s experience of this write. The hunt for answers also is revealing important details about our own place in the universe – where we came from, how life came about and, perhaps, where we’re headed. Nice one ...

[Levi Levin]

Great work! The unknown is indeed intriguing and mounts our anticipation for change.

[Crowley]

A healthy curiosity is one of the keys to growth I think. If you are afraid or uninterested in the open door, its just another block, walling you in, making your time vertically shallow. I loved the idea of this and I loved the buoyancy of your writing. Great work!!

[Paul Bell]

Quite apt this poem just now.
Millions of people are just waiting to go through that door hopefully to normality.
2021 be a good year.

[Autumn L Gibbs]

I love your poem. I too love doors, I'm a cat that's been killed many times by curiosity of what lays through all the open doors.
A.G.

[keith]

I had to look up pearlwort and now I see the attraction
it is they that looked beyond the open door that mankind owes much
knowledge sought is knowledge shared
otherwise ... sharing caves?

thanks for the imagery

[aj milton]

Great portrayal of a restless spirit, a seeker, an adventurer. The words work in both the physical and intellectual planes. The last line adds a touch of sadness. The seeker hasn't yet found their partner.

(PS one typo: incessAnt)

[Bacchus]

beautiful
maybe really dangerous
to wonder at wonders
but safely travel
I completely identify

to be able to rest.
to be still among the wonder
not knowing- can we survive.

my son is obsessed with rhinos right now
i don't know which is safer ocd of peaking through doors or charging animals with horns...

[Ruth]

This is simply amazing, beautifully done and shows a restlessness within, or at least that is what I perceive :) Reminds me of the saying "everything you ever wished for is on the other side of fear" for some reason, awesome :)