I’m ridiculously into words. Perhaps it’s because I don’t find myself to be particularly articulate, but I’m easily inspired when someone is able to say exactly how I feel with the right combination of sounds and syllables. This poem by Dan Agnoletti gets me every time.
______
THINGS TO DO IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE
Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days. LOOK UP FOR BLUE SKY THROUGH THE SPOUT. Make small fires with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals. Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices. Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. LOOK EACH WAY FOR THE DIM GLOW OF LIGHT. Work on your reports. REVIEW EACH OF YOUR LIFE’S TEN MILLION CHOICES. Endure moments of self-loathing. FIND THE EVIDENCE OF THOSE BEFORE YOU. Destroy it. Try to be very quiet and listen for the sound of gears and moving water. LISTEN FOR THE SOUND OF YOUR HEART. BE THANKFUL THAT YOU ARE HERE, SWALLOWED WITH ALL HOPE, WHERE YOU CAN REST AND WAIT. Be nostalgic. THINK OF ALL THE THINGS YOU DID AND COULD HAVE DONE. Remember treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.
_____
You see, it’s always only a matter of time before life moves forward, no matter how stuck one feels. Instead of wallowing in your stuckness, take a look around. Simply observe. Take it all in. Be still. Let go and realize control is and always has been an illusion. And, when all else fails, reflect. Reflect on the moment. Reflect on the past and consider how both ultimately affect your future. Realize that sometimes the belly of the whale is exactly where you’re meant to be no matter how wrong it might feel at any given moment. Enjoy the stillness because when life moves forward again, and it will, you may long for the days when you could simply be still, reflect and let someone else drive.
