Sunday 11 August 2013

The Tranquil Place


The tranquil place 
had caught my eye, 
one day, as I rambled by, 
and I resolved to come again 
to bask in the murmurs of the quiet brook 
and breath deep in contemplation, and perhaps, 
read whispered passages 
midst glints of sunshine sparkles – in green – 
and breezes on my favorite book.

But the path, as it turned out,  
was hard rock steep 
and wildly treacherous to cross 
and the trek to Shangri-La 
more akin to the Ancient Mariner’s – 
without the albatross –

and not, the in-harmony-with-nature traipse,  
that I had pictured, getting there: 
all the more impeded 
by the book I lugged – 
to say nothing of the chair.

But, at last, I crossed  
the Great Divide 
and came to that perfect place

where . . .  
I contemplated – like mad – 
a way . . . of getting out of there. 

“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.”   Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë).
photos:  Tranquil Place – W. Bourke

© 2013 Wendy Bourke

4 comments:

  1. Haha! This is excellent and so funny! Wonderful...love it Wendy, thank you for the big grin!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really pleased you enjoyed it, Jennifer. This story actually did happen (yesterday, as a matter of fact). Though, fortunately, Mike was close by and heard my hollers for help. He came running to the edge of the "pit" and I lifted the chair and tossed the book up to him. When he tried to make his way down, I told him someone would have to stay "up top" to tell the children, that Mom was living like a troll now and each day, someone in the family would have to come to the pit and throw down some bottled water and sandwiches - though I was laughing so hard, at that point, I fell down on my knees and then, couldn't get up - without my chair to hang onto. After we had kicked around a few dozen ideas - such as lifting me Jurassic Park style out of there with some sort of a crane device and calling in Search and Rescue (with the emphasis on "Rescue") - all the while, listening to Mike's Ricky Ricardo impression of "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!" - I managed to waddle duck like to an edge of the rocks that backed into a thin slice of ground covered with thickets and dead branches - where I threw myself and began squirming (as flat as I could under the bushes in half inches) up the side of the steep hill - stopping, periodically, to laugh so hard, I could hardly caught my breath. Ah me - it's been a while since I got myself this muddled up. Though I did enjoy the good laugh!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I see I've fallen behind in my blog reading lately.

    Gave me a big grin too: I contemplated – like mad –
    a way . . . of getting out of there.

    Yes, unfortunately, the path isn't always an in-harmony-with-nature traipse!

    Glad your little adventure made you laugh!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Janet. And congratulations on having one of your tankas selected for the back cover of the Tanka Society of America's journal, Ribbons.

    ReplyDelete