Walking Backwards and Getting There (3)

by Hazel ettridge

Thursday 7th March 2019 8:03 am

This is the last of the Walking Backwards poems (probably)

Confidence growing, my stride lengthens

I open my arms wide and

Walking backwards I break into

An awkward, lumbering

Run!

Not knowing what lies behind

Flailing to stay on my feet

Like a drunk in a graveyard

I stumble back and back

Euphoric in the madness of it all

Laughing with shooting stars

As they arc back in time

Across the coal black sky

And the crazy receding waves

Tumbling back and back

Into the endless blue

I'm on my own journey

Backflipping through my own

Shifting existence

No holding on

No safety net

No seatbelt

No sweat

I don't know how to do this

Yet here I am

Walking backwards

And getting there

Comments

Hazel ettridge

Thu 7th Mar 2019 11:11

Keith, thanks for your words - it is so stimulating and thought provoking to get other people's impressions and ideas. I've also been reading about Lent and using it as a time to slow down and allow our lives to seep in.

Hazel ettridge

Thu 7th Mar 2019 11:09

David, it thrills me to know i have been the cause of your rambling.? Walking backwards was inspired by the archetype Heyoka - sacred clown of the Lakota.

keith jeffries

Thu 7th Mar 2019 11:06

Thank you for this series of poems which, I believe, addresses what many people are now engaged in. A sort of reappraisal of one´s life and the direction it is taking and the need to apply the breaks, to stand back and get a clearer persepctive. As free thinkers we often stop in our tracks to take stock of the world about us and our future role in it.

Thank you indeed for this

Keith

Hazel ettridge

Thu 7th Mar 2019 11:05

Rachel, yes this is frightening, but only for the part of me (huge part of me) that wants to go with the flow and be part of the tribe. However, I would hate to some day look back on my life and see only the highway - especially the 21st century highway in the western world. I need to explore some of those scary cracks and crevices. Having said that, here I am in my nice cosy house, rain lashing the window panes and still in my pyjamas- not so adventurous!

elPintor

Thu 7th Mar 2019 10:28

I'm reading through the series just now, Hazel and getting hints of transcendental meditation, like watching your own body in motion. I hope you won't mind me saying, but the final episode feels like a terrible and frightening dream. Though, I'm almost sure that's not what you meant.

Rachel

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Walking Backwards and Getting There (3)

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