Ripples

I actually wrote this one back in 2017, but I rediscovered it and am particularly fond of it. So, I bestow it upon you.

I absentmindedly kick a pebble

Into a puddle as I walk down the road

And I cannot help but look at its surface

Ripples

Causing endless waves to rock a gray sky

To toss the clouds among its crests

Until it is silenced

Still

I look into the still puddle now

And try to see how I’m feeling

But I cannot see my eyes

My skin

All the puddle shows is silhouette

Just a me-shaped shadow

Maybe puddles don’t show our faces

And only show us our thoughts

Written on our souls in ink

Some can still see smiles

Others

Like me

Are drowning in thoughts

Drowning in stories

Maybe puddles aren’t meant to be mirrors

Just a sad reminder

Of how beautiful the world is

Every dark cloud outlined

And how in comparison we are darkness and thoughts

And ink

And stories

Ripples

I try to clear my mind of everything I know

And look down

Still a silhouette of ink

My skin is paper and somebody has a story to tell

Somebody

Somewhere

Me

I find another stone and kick it into the water

I walk away

And as I do I look down at my arm

Still the same faded tan as always

No ink

No stories

No cursive script written over a thousand times

A thousand thoughts

Sometimes we need ripples to clear our mind

When we think too much

When life gets too hard

When we cannot look ourselves in the eye because

We cannot see ourselves

We are suffocating

Just stop

Stop

Stop

Pause

And look away

Dip a toe into the water

And make ripples

Look up at the sky

Smooth and clear and clean

No more ink

No more darkness

Just

Ripples

Author's Note

Comments, questions, concerns, criticism? Please let me know!

Reviews

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

hi there, so sorry i didnt judge this competition it slppped through my fingers, thanks again for sharing this amazing poem, loved it, good luck, judging today

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

wow thanks for bestowing this beauty on us. i loved it, thanks for entry into my comp and goodluck