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