When I was younger,
nineteen or so
and needed to be rescued
I stopped by the liquor store on Green Oaks
and bought a small bottle of vodka.
they never carded me.
I’d continue down the curvy road
down to the place where people parked their boats
and I’d hide my car, and walk down to the dock.
Like a buoy, the dock would raise up, raise down
with each roll of the lake from the night to the shore
and I’d walk to the end, where I’d lay flat on my back
in the silence and with the stars
letting the vodka warm me
as I continued to bob up and down
with the lake and the dock.
I suppose I hoped that my rescuer would find me
and hear the quiet screaming of my heart:
alone! afraid! lost!
and he would simply sit next to me
his hand on my knee or my arm or my face
and with his presence I’d know that
in the end, when I’d sober up and leave
that everything would at least be a little bit okay.
For a couple years I did this
even when I moved two hours away
I found my way to the dock several times
waiting to be rescued
and looking to the stars for hope.
A decade past, there are still moments
when I want to lay on my back on the dock
a thousand miles away
although now, I know my rescuer is
and was and has always been
Yet the stars still bring me hope
and with them I’m reminded
I am not alone, even in times
when the loneliness is loud
Because we all seek out the star
that guides us to our rescue;
captivating us with a holy
gravitational force.
(Anne Jackson, December 23, 2010)
Comments
9 responses to “Poetry: The Dock & The Rescue”
Beautiful Anne. I can so relate to the feelings of wanting a rescuer, especially from my own loneliness.
Beautiful poem that eloquently says how many people feel…..lost with no real hope. But then they find the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ and their rescuer is revealed and known.
I remember this one from last year (I think). Love it. But wait… you wrote this in the future? ;)
I love that louder than loneliness
Is the Savior’s siren song–
Writ large in the stars
For all to see
Even me
Thanks for sharing this, Anne!
You are the best! Excellent regarding the lonely part….so true, true, true !!!
THAT is a beautiful poem.
Love that. Thanks, Anne!
Great poem…can completely relate to it both in my pre-Christ and in-Christ experience. Thanks for exploring the depths of your soul and sharing it. .
What’s not in your poem is as powerful as what is…the specific details of what you longed to be rescued from. But they’re there, silently, aren’t they? That heavy silence that just couldn’t be broken? At least that’s what I hear. This is one of those works that lends itself to breaking the silence – to freedom. Would you mind if I use it with the teens and women I meet with who are in recovery, and in a lecture I give on sexual abuse and trauma? Of course, with proper credit noted! Thanks, Anne for inviting us to Speak Freely!