Where once the reeded pond

Where once the reeded pond
Spun into the mud screws,
Now the dry dust ghost wind blows
Through the dead fish eye;
Where once the heron through its shallows
Pushed through the green weed hairs,
Now the brackish roots lay in a corded decay.

Invisible, its water level once with colored lid,
Now latched into a clay bed void;
Stones, once submerged, now zig-zagged
Into earthen channels;
There shall be wildlife parched, and the
Milk wood drought in the dry womb dirt;
Carved birds blunt into kindled nests.

Shall there be rain, or outlawed into a dumb-down
Trickle, a naked fall into the pastures of worms;
They woke to a hearing in a priested morn
With water praying and the speckled drops;
A reeded pond bent over like a beggar,
Putting moisture into its dry clay cup; where
The rain runs, you shall push out your shores.

Copyright © 11/03/2019 lance sheridan®

N36 Where once the reeded pond

66 comments on “Where once the reeded pond

  1. crazywitch25 says:

    This is probably your clearest poem. I enjoyed it, didn’t riddle my brain like your other stuff. My sister and I used to pick muscles to paint from dried-up ponds.

  2. rabirius says:

    Amazing work, Lance.

  3. Yes, so clearly visual,this poem Lance! Your juxtaposition a wet thriving pond of yesterday with a dried up deathly still life of a water-less -rain-less world of now. Wonderfully done!

  4. I love this imagery, Lance!

  5. dourdan says:

    and we all must just learn to accept the passage of time…
    sad but true.

  6. Beautiful, and very visible in one’s inner eye! Thank you Lance. Elisa

  7. crazywitch25 says:

    I hope I didn’t offend you. I’ve had a lobotomy, so emotional stuff sometimes confuses me. That’s all I meant. Your other work is good, too, just a different style. I was able to receive a clear vision from this one. So much imagery! You did a wonderful job.

  8. Very visual poem, Lance. Congratulations.

  9. Your imagery blows me away, Lance. This was so evocative of the plight man is creating w/ Nature herself beggared.

  10. Devon Brock says:


    Wonderful juxtaposition of fertility and barrenness in this poem. And though the imagery is solidly naturalistic, in my mind there is a subtext running along the lines of an elderly woman pining for the virility and seeming eternal bliss of ignorant youth. Lovely stuff as usual.


  11. MOMENTS says:

    Beautifully penned as always, Lance. I like the combination of nature’s once fertility and the increasing drought (the last one reminds me of T.S.Eliot’s poem The Waste Land). This is just not nature’s drought, but also humanity’s spiritual drought. Your imagery is so well found, so gorgeous and breathtaking. Your poem lifts my spirits today that I feel so sad, sad, sad… for what is happening to my country. I know this is nothing compared to what is happening in many world contries But still …For me October 1, 2017 and October 14, 2019, will mark and are marking turning points in the history of Catalonia and Spain. How can the Spanish state send the police to beat up peaceful protesters, prosecute people for their ideas, imprison them and sentence innocent people to jail. In just one week, four people have lost one eye, each person, because of rubber balls shot by the Spanish police. I never thought this would happen. I believed Spain was a solid democracy, but no, the regime is turning more authoritarian each day. I wish I could escape and live somewhere else. But we need to lose our fear and keep up going out to the streets protesting peaceably. Our Catalan-Spanish conflict will never be resolved judicialising a political issue. We need international help, mediation. Please, watch this video and make it known to every one. We are not violent, we are not terrorists. It is the Spanish state that is constantly fabricating fake news. This is the truth: https://youtu.be/c04kj0nX688

  12. RM Weldon says:

    As always you articulate an image in my mind as you paint the experience with your heart and soul. Thank you for being you.

  13. Very visual poem I also synchronise it with life, the lushness of youth or how our lives were filled with all we required to become a dry shriveled parched land or life with nothing more to give.

  14. Marta Pinhao says:

    ¡Impresionante Lance! Abrazote.

  15. Marta Pinhao says:

    Jajaja… quise decir “Lance”. Perdón.

  16. Please may it rain, and bring the heron home.

  17. I read it a couple of times and I could get a more superficial, descriptive, reality-kind of understanding, and then an underlying metaphorical meaning as well. Whether intended or not (and that’s the wonder of poetry), it’s a wonderful write, Lance! Cheers!

  18. lampmagician says:

    Reblogged this on lampmagician and commented:
    …With water praying and the speckled drops;
    A reeded pond bent over like a beggar,
    Putting moisture into its dry clay cup; … 🙏👍

  19. Lia says:

    I feel so grateful to have found your blog. Such thick golden threads.
    “where / The rain runs, you shall push out your shores.”
    just, magnificent.

  20. allenrizzi says:

    Great imagery Lance – Hats off as usual!

  21. This writing is very beautiful and comforting Lance and it is a peaceful place to go to. Thank you for writing and sharing your expression of a water comforting season!💦🦈💦

  22. NZain says:

    Your imagery and dare I say ‘love’ for the marshlands inspires me, Lance.

  23. jeofreyogire says:

    I am so happy to read this and I promise to come again. Thanks for this amazing peotry work.

  24. jeofreyogire says:

    Thank you for stopping bye my blog.

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