“Walking Over Water,” a poem by Daniel Holland
Walking Over Water
Stick falls off oak tree in winter’s bare delight.
Thin stick over deep water, chilled water.
“Courage!” I say to my bare tingly toes.
Walking Over Water
Stick falls off oak tree in winter’s bare delight.
Thin stick over deep water, chilled water.
“Courage!” I say to my bare tingly toes.
Why do we scratch our heads when we can’t figure something out? Are we simply buying time? Signalling that we are clueless? Or, do we think we’ll shake our brains a bit, and the information we are looking for will fall out?
LEARNING TO CRAWL — When I was little, I liked crawling and was able to crawl really fast. All the big people towering over me kept trying to get me to walk and stand up. The only time I would stand up is when no one was around. Crawling was my favorite way to get…
Perched on the end of faded green roughened seesaw. Roughened by sand poured over the board. I went up and down, then suddenly stopped. Stopped in midflight by a girl child turned woman. She said, “Here I am!” with her eyes. She made the sand feel solid.
A few summers ago Daniel and I went swimming in Clear Lake together…on the swimming beach at the Clear Lake State Park. I’m a strong swimmer and he’s more a dog paddler. When he ran into some water plants, he panicked and it felt as if he were having a heart attack. I swam towards…
Through the enchanted forest of postcards I project frames to each picture of time and space. I can control what I do with time: most of the time. But what about an afternoon of road construction delays? Or, I’m waiting in line at the grocery store and the cashier says, “Price check!” Or, I’m waiting…
I always lie when I tell snow stories. You say you walked to school as a kid in two feet of snow. I say I walked in three feet of snow. Not only that–it was 20 degrees below zero. There were no bathrooms in sight, a lot of people around. I was pee-shy.
On this very hot summer day the feeling of tingly toes is delightful. And to thing that there will be winter and chilled water once again in a cycle of seasons.