NOTE: The following poem is borrowed from an anthology of poetry entitled “The Changing Seasons of Life”, authored by Fred Blahnik and published in 2016.
A Tiny Piece of Flotsam
By Frederick J. Blahnik
I am just a tiny piece of flotsam, trying valiantly to navigate this vast river of life.
The further I float downstream, the nearer I come to the river’s sprawling delta……and the mystical mouth at its end.
In the beginning, the river’s current was swift and carried me along rapidly.
No thought was ever wasted on what lay beyond the horizon.
Now, as I advance further and further downstream, the current is gradually slowing down.
And the possibility of a terminal point and complete cessation of the river seeps ever more aggressively into my evolving consciousness.
I can navigate just a wee bit on this languid body of water, yet I certainly cannot turn around and go back wherest I came.
Or even stop to rest my weary bones for a few minutes on a convenient sandbar.
No, the river’s current keeps carrying me downstream–slowly, inevitably, inexorably, determinedly…….
‘Til one day, totally unannounced, I will glide into that unseeable gulf, thoroughly exhausted.
The waterway of life will stop flowing altogether for me then, and eternal rest will be mine to behold and savor.
I will finally be home……..
Fred's Soapbox 