Written by myself a couple of years ago, it felt appropriate to reconsider this little should-be spoken word poem
Abeyance
Like a boat on the shore oblivious to the whole ocean:
To ride those waves is what you were made for,
To rise and fall between the sun and the shore,
You can only keep swimming, you’ll sink if you’re not sure,
Forced by the law of survival. The sea is your hope and your rival,
The giver of drive some fight all their lives for.
It’s your purpose, your force. Though there are rules to obey
You can chart your own course ‘til the end of your days.
As you look out to sea, the tempest says;
“To ride those waves is what you were made for.”
You’ve got to keep swimming, you’ll sink if you’re not sure,
But in this stormy weather you can’t see the allure.
So you sit
In the sand
For you cannot stand
Under the weight of what might
Be your fate.
I actually started this poem after first experiencing Kate Tempest’s spoken word work, Icarus (1). It wasn’t until I started university in 2013 that it formed into a completed piece. I was feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of opportunities ahead of me, unable to decide what I should/shouldn’t, could/couldn’t do. In all honesty perhaps this feeling has never really left me, however, I felt a surge of it again, approaching the end of third year. Though at this later point, I was looking back more so than forward, the underlying feeling of ineptitude and uncertainty was sure to bubble under the surface of devising a solo piece and potentially erupt in my final performance.
(1) Tempest, Kate (2011) Icarus, Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv5fggapRwQ (accessed 27 February 2015).