soon I will be fast aboard
sailing on his skiff of dreams
the ferryman standing watch
soaring skyward untethered
‘mong the clouds of wonder
to magical mystical ports of call
where all imagined is in my grasp
if only I could stay the course…
but fast – daybreak approaches
and this dreamer will awaken
but caught still am I
in the final dream
conjured forth by the ferryman
spirit stirs to the distant voice
readies for the firmamental journey
one foot still in this mortal realm
soul resigned to embarkation
time folding in upon time
as slow you approach
the celestial light
rob kistner © 2019
Sunday Muse 53
Hi! I’m Edgrrr, rob’s shih tzu.
“Soaring skyward tethered”….a wondrous dream indeed. The soul’s final journey captured. I love this Rob! Such beautiful imagery in this, and it reflects the picture wonderfully! Thank you so much for joining us over at the Sunday Muse! 🙂
Thank you for your kind words Carrie. I will be participating in the Sunday Muse regularly now that I have found you. I love love love writing to visual prompts. I am highly visual, enjoying to write poetry of place, setting, and atmosphere – as well as being a mixed-media artist for 48 years now.
Un tethered…..LOL I think I need better glasses. :-))
🙂
Don’t forget to being a coin for that final trip. Nice to see you at Sunday Muse!
I will bring two Shay, the additional one for the gatekeeper! It’s nice to find this site… 🙂
“bring”, not “being”, sorry.
🙂
Beaitifully written, and pleased to meet you, Rob . . 🙂
Thank you Edwin, and nice to meet you…! 🙂
Wonderful write, I really enjoyed it, Rob.
Thsnk you Vicki, very much… 🙂
This is beautiful… May we arrive at the gate hands full of change to pay entry, and perhaps leave some for those who arrive empty handed.
Thank you do much Susie. Yes absolutely, may we always lend help to others. That was a wonderful comment you left for me…! 🙂
Nice last stanza with time folding in upon time.
Thank you Frank!
“Magical mystical ports of call” … (The lure of names and places, stirring thoughts of foreign places. Ports and palaces and steamers. Names are ships to carry dreamers.) This is a gorgeous write, Rob. It reminded me so much of the poems of Don Blanding (quoted above in parentheses).
Thank you Bev, very much! I love that you always share a bit of info for me to explore… 🙂 now Don Blanding is on my radar.
Sounds like you are in limbo already! One foot here and One foot there! “All’s well that ends well!”
I have always been a procrastinator Dwight… 🙂 My dad always said, “All’s well that ends in the well”. Silly, but it made me smile when I was a lad.
I specially like the ending lines – hope in seeing that celestial light.
Thank you Grace, glad you liked it…! 🙂
Thank goodness you still have one foot in this mortal realm. I can see you soaring in your dreams. There is a soft blanket of poignant regret at leaving, even in dreams…
It is all a mystery, which we will someday understand – or not… 🙂
When I was a child, the travelling to a holiday destination was almost the best part, like the anticipation of Christmas. I hope where you end after your ferry trip is somewhere without angels and harps 🙂
The journey is the destination. No angels or harps Jane, just the infinity of being…
You have to pay the ferryman,
or forever linger in the sickly reek
from the meadows of asphodel
at least that is what I have been told… which I thought was similar to limbo.
This is an ecstatic vision I have had several times Björn, a lucid dream that has occurred in those moments between sleeping and waking. The skiff envisioned is a ship of the skies, the destination in my vision is vague, snd the ferryman is a benevolent helper to guide the skycraft at my behest… where we were heading is a place beyond the stars, possibly another dimension, another planet… the celestial light appeares more as a doorway through the mortal veil to what seems to be immortality, of some form or another…?? I have awakened each time before I have reached the destination. It is this unfinished essence of the vision that brings me to see it as a limbo-like state.
“one foot still in this mortal realm
soul resigned to embarkation”
God’s waiting room but meanwhile the dreamer has such fantastical escapades “sailing on his skiff of dreams” – excellent line
Don’t know if it’s god Laura, or the threshold of the infinity of being…
A thought- provoking write Rob.
I am pleased it stirs your thinking Linda…
“spirit stirs to the distant voice
readies for the firmamental journey
one foot still in this mortal realm
soul resigned to embarkation”
Such a dreamy, wandering poem. Love it, Rob!
Thank you Sara. This is me trying to describe a lucid dream I have had several times. It is ecstatic flowing beyond logic…
I like the way you describe the final journey, Rob, as an adventure to ‘magical mystical ports of call’ on a dory. a fishing boat and not the traditional ferry.
I felt the dory was far more personal Kim, more intimate, more nimble, and more easily navigated to a variety of ports. Also, the relationship with the ferryman was one-on-one. Besides, this was a magical, sky-flying dory.
whimsical and magical, your journey is; reminding me of a romantic Jules Verne. thanks for adding your voice
~ M
You are welcome M…! It is inspired by a pre-waking lucid dream I have had a few times.