“The View from the Lighthouse”~by Michael Graves

 

 

“The View from the Lighthouse”

I have seen the storms
far-off and approaching.
I have watched the crashing waves
yet to come
run their course.
I have heard the howling wind
in the dark wet night.

I have watched the tides.

I see the rocks that lie in wait
beneath the shiny surface
of the calm sea.
I see the slow
unstoppable
swell
of the tsunami
seeking
to subsume
the shoreline.

The sea itself is made of changes. Always
changes.

Some sudden and violent.
Some transient and fleeting.
Some deadly and permanent.

With perspective
you learn the difference.

Vicissitudes can kill you.
Even the word sounds like
choppy water.

Life can turn on a dime.
Let it.
Allow it to turn, and then
ride it
in your direction.

Anything else, and you founder
or become at last becalmed.

With perspective
you learn the difference.

Just because the water is choppy
does not mean
disaster is certain.
Adrift is not death.
It is simply

adrift.

Know the stable point of land.
Know the star that does not fail.
Know very well, the decision
that means more to you
than life.

And on that, plot your course.
And never

waver.

Do not panic
when the wind hits a fresh gale
when the waters turn angry
and the masts begin to creak and strain.
That is simply the way
of the sea.

Sailing is at its most exhilarating
when the sails are full
and pulses pound. Provided
you stay the course
and ride out the storm.

Don’t change direction, based
on a single stretch of
heavy weather.
If what you seek
was near at hand
you would not be sailing.

–Graves 8/26/11