Poetry

The I of I

The lake is peaceful here.

On the far edge black clouds almost off the horizon.
Over there the lake yet heaves and thrashes to the storms passing.

The turbulence mirrors the pain of recent times.
Soon it will be gone.

And in the soft golden glow will peaceful lie this lake.
The I of I.

Peace is a place we carry in our minds.
For me a deep, still lake, burnished with a golden glow.

The landscape gentle and rolling,
Flowing grass reflecting its holy light.

For nearly all my years my spirit has been troubled.
Elusive this inner peace.

In recent years my core has been whipped by storms that only now subside.
The spirit survived, not merely intact, but stronger; richer in wisdom that only such experience can bring.

In the storm's wake, the lake has deepened into a quiet certainty.
Knowing this spirit can never break.

That nothing can deny its peace.
This inner core of me.

The future's beckoning glow says to let the past go.
This time will be a watershed, I know for sure, no matter what the uncertain future, my spirit is secure.

Regrets I have many, but current wisdom was forged in this flame.
I cannot, will not live in regret or blame.

So I remember, and let go,
Allowing myself to flow into an unknown tomorrow.

To live a life full, has always been my aim.
To know full measure both reason and pleasure.

But to do so I need allow the peaks of pleasure, troughs of pain.
The height of each new peak a measure of the trough, both a measure of my aim.

I feel packed full of life the passions in me surge.
But now and more each day from my core, the light flows through me, quietening too hasty urge.

To feed my soul, to act for me while offering a gentle spirit to raise the spirit in those I meet.
To focus on what I feel I need for me.

To have fulfilment from the act not dismiss the daily chore as merely the means to some future state of peace or fame.
To act according to my soul and to what instinct says is my destiny.

To flow with the highs and lows of life.
To be at peace with the process of living and live each day fully,
To imbue me with peace flowing from my core, with passion, contained.

And with fulfilment from achieving that which I set for me.