Wild – for dVerse

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I have known the wild.

There is a fierce joy there –
the desert air burns brightly.

I have been afraid.

I have dared.

How would it be, to live your life in sensible shoes,
in clothes that are neatly ironed? To wear a pale pink lipstick,
to spread it cleanly every morning? How would it be,
to build a cage out of cleaning, and polishing, and setting the table?
How would it be to wince at mud, and to watch the world
through a pane of glass? How would that be?

The wild calls.

There are forests and mountains,
nightclubs and music,
and the risk of rain.

There is the ocean, calling, constantly calling,
and the river that will take you there
starts here, at this bank.

Take off your shoes.

This is for Jilly at dVerse, who asks us to write about the Wild. And why not? 

15 thoughts on “Wild – for dVerse”

  3. I’ll gladly take off my shoes… There’s immaculate sadness in that middle stanza, but it’s undone by the prospect of following the speaker into the river. Although, that last line is ambiguous, so the reader might be following the speaker into that gilded cage… Terrific last line!

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  4. This is so beautifully written! I especially liked the lines:
    “How would it be to wince at mud and to watch the world
    through a pane of glass? How would that be?”

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  8. the way out always at our feet – running wild, running free but so many dangers too! The contrasts are immense and that whole housebound verse is perfectly painted – so very ‘Stepford wives’

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  11. So many ways to live this poem, is it a levitation or resignation? I feel the former, the last line makes me feel like something nearby is burning, but is not consumed. Oh! But this is a lovely call. Thank you.

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      • Then you are just like Moses, dragging us kicking and screaming out of Egypt after all. We better watch out, between your poem and Amaya’s this little bunch of poets might circle around 40 years in Jilly’s prompt, but that might just be awesome. 💁🏻

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