I am

[JoelJosol]

Childlike, joyous before your eyes,
feet on the bathtub, and starry-eyed.
wish we had fins so we can stay immersed
on our make-believe sea. We enjoy
the insipid rubber-duck as it gets
tossed, every where, in our small
space we call happiness. Wrapped up
in our carefreeness, life's trawl
awaiting in the depths, to catch
you and I unaware. Mute as the rose
floating on the water, ephemeral
but glorious in its redness, red
as blood that once floated in the
river Nile.

Warm like heated water, hidden partly
by warm vapors, like bubbles children burst
in laughter, one by one, you and I.
This is intimacy-
to be cramped in tight spaces,
bathed in laughter, teary-eyed.
Children soon grow up. Not long after
soon to dry up, to wrinkle, life-less
on sun-baked ground. Before death
finally makes its call
on you and I,
let us in this childlike pleasures
stay awhile, like gold fish
that just swim here and there,
within the perimeters
of their predefined life. We
may have invisible walls
around this bath tub
but we can be
childlike
for an hour.

NOTE: This poem was an effort to emulate Sylvia Plath's spirit in her poetry. I am not sure if I were successful.  

[dr_con]

I enjoyed the sentiment, the skillful presentation of very real, yet hard to label feeling, wonder combined with ennui? 😉 maybe.

Thanks for sharing!

J

[JoelJosol]

Juris, I am glad that the sense of celebrated ordinariness of two people enjoying a common bath tub carried through 🙂

 

[bob]

    Joel: Your poem is very much understood; I like it. I must add, as a young couple there was a time when we enjoyed a child-like closeness while bathing together. It unknowingly strengthened our love for each other mentally, rather than physically.      Today, both now in our eighties, my wife is semi-invalid. Upon awakening I wash her body completely and dress her daily. This physical touch is a necessity, even if it is only for an hour, but it serves to strengthen our love for each other even more so.

(A partial quote from another poem I wrote:)

Love should not be taken for granted;
It should be nurtured, spoken, and practiced.
With every effort you show your love;
It will return in like kind.

Growing older...you will feel more like the child...needing love,
You have completed your part of the cycle.
Love is infectious, and addictive.
I hope no one ever finds a cure for it.

 

[tonyv]

Joel, the emulation is there, but your unique voice sounds through. 

Tony

[JoelJosol]

Bob, your thoughts are inspiring, of genuine love and dedication to the loved one. It brings a touch of physical reality and not just pure imagination. Indeed, the thoughts in the fragment of your poem is reflective of it.

Tony, thanks for recognizing the tone. I am also glad that it reflects my own writing in someone's else poetic style.