POEM #16- Panama Canal

Photo by Autoridad del Canal de Panama, on Wikimedia Commons

I'm participating in Mary Lee Hahn's month of torture poetry, "Our Wonderful World." Every day this month, Mary Lee selects a new wonder and invites others to write along with her. Head over to Year of Reading to read Mary Lee's poems, then go on to Kevin's blog to see his amazing visual and auditory creations.

“On Building the Panama Canal”

(or parenting, or probably a lot of other things)

When I started this journey

it seemed

as if the trip

would be relatively  easy

I envisioned

hard sweat

followed by

triumphant breakthroughs

cheering crowds

congratulatory celebrations.

I did not realize

the jungles would be so thick

the swamps so deep and strong sucking

Bubonic-ridden rats

so very large and fearless

When I started this journey

And I did not know there would be so much decay

That machines that once seemed impervious

could be reduced to rusty flakes 

in a matter of months

I did not realize there would be so much

malaria of body

mind

spirit

When I started this journey

I did not realize

people would come and go
so quickly.
I did not know friendship was so cheap

or compromise so expensive.

I did not know souls 

could be bought for a dime or a quarter

When I started this journey,

I did not realize there would be

So much sailing bravely forward

followed by waiting endless hours 

for water 

controlled by others 

to rise.

And I did not realize times of ascent 

and smooth sailing

would be so quickly followed 

by times of descent.

That I would so often find myself in deep water,

or with my head under water

that so much water

would need to go

under the bridge

When I started this journey

it seemed

as if the trip

would be relatively  easy

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2014