AND A BOAT TO TAKE

ME AWAY......

I wished once

there was a boat

that would come and row me away,

to take me as far as a boat can row

until I reached the sea.

I wished for the tides to do the rest

and wash me out to the ocean,

to let me float on endless waves,

where I’d never have to make a decision,

to go on or go back.

I watched and waited every day,

looking out my window,

for a boat to come to rescue me

and take me somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

Days and days and endless days

passed while I was wishing,

eventually I realised

that there was no boat coming.

And I couldn’t wait forever.

I would have to find a way,

to either go myself, or stay.

If I stayed I’d have to find some peace

within myself, and if I went I’d bring with me,

the turmoil that I thought I’d leave.

Life doesn’t give great choices,

sometimes, but it’s all we get.

Sometimes we lose so much

waiting for something better,

when we’d be better off, getting on with living.

So that’s what I do now.

I’ve learned to love where I am,

my little house that sits on dry land,

so much that if the boat comes now,

I’d wave it on by, and stay where I am.

copyright Roisin Duffy