Fluidity [1]

by Thomas Redoubt

Image credit: Kristiina Klaas on Unsplash

wheniwasborn

transitingfluidlyfrommymotherswomb

intoaworldunliketheoneideparted

somepersonunknowntome

thenandnow

glancedatapartofmybody

thatbysocialnormswastobe

foreverafterkepthiddenfrompublicview

anddeclaredintowhichoftwosocialvessels

onesomuchmoresplendidlyappointedthantheother

iwastobeplacedtomakemylifesvoyage

wheniwasaninfantandthenasmallchild

ifirstrockedsublimelyintheprotectedembraceof

theholdofthevesselintowhichihadbeenplaced

thenplayfullyroamedaboutit

fromstemtosterntomyheartscontent

learningbysighttouchsoundandsmell

thevesselssurfacesshapespaceandsubstance

aswellascouldbebythechildiwas

butasigrewandmyvesseltraveledon

downriversthroughstraitsandlocks

fromporttoportandfromseatosea

infineweatherandfoul

ifoundifitbetter

insomepartsofmyvesselthanothers

andinsomepartsididnotfitatall

thisperplexedme

asihadbeentoldbythose

travelinginvesselsthataccompaniedmine

fromthestart

onehadbutthesingleimmutablevessel

whichwasspecificallychosentofit

fortheirlifesvoyage

astimeflowedon

iencounteredmanyothers

sometravelinginmydirection

someindirectionscrossorcountertomine

someinvesselslikemyown

someinvesselsunlikeminebutdistinctly

ofthesocialtypeihadnotbeenplacedinto

andafewoftypesunknowntome

istudiedothersandtheirvessels

somecloseupandsomethroughmytelescope

mostseemedtofittheirvesselsverywell

inallwaysatalltimesandinallkindsofseaandweather

butsomedidnotfitverywelloratall 

iwassurprised

atwhatisawofthevesselsthatwereoftypes

unknowntome

surprisedtofindtheywerenotunknowable

butresembledinonewayoranother

oneorbothofthetwosocialvessels

ihadbeentoldwereimmutable

andsurprisedtofindtheiroccupants

allfitthemverywell

iwasmoresurprised

bywhatisawinsomeexoticplaces

somepersonsactuallymoving

fromonevesseltoanother

sometimesstayingsometimesgoingback

orbackandforthandsometimes

suspendingthemselvesbetweenvessels

ithenunderstood

whatihadbeentoldabout

theimmutabilityandexclusivity

ofonesvesselwasjustancientlore

meanttokeepthoseatseaonthesafestvesselsandcourses

duringtheirjourneys

vesselsandcoursessailablewellandcomfortablybythemany

butnotbyall

ithenknew

itwasnotmyvesselthatdeterminedmyvoyage

butiwhodeterminedthevesselformyvoyage

andhowwelliwouldfitandenjoythemboth

[1] In this poem, scriptio continua has been modified by italicizing every other word in each line to enhance readability.

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Thomas Redoubt

Thomas Redoubt is from Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small town on the Ohio River north-west of Pittsburgh and now lives in Allison Park, Pennsylvania. He was trained in science and law spent the first half of his non-literary career as a materials science researcher and the second half as a lawyer and law school adjunct professor. Redoubt has a passion for writing poetry and sees poetry as the epitome of one person to communicate his/her thoughts and feelings to another.