The Well

for my daughter on turning 18

Photo by Frank Albrecht on Unsplash

The end of high school is a time
to let go of the urge to study,
and enjoy a vacation
or a week or a month or two
of unrepentant lazing about
before buckling down.

The water in the well is clear.
Let it receive the rays of the sun
that bend in the change from air
to show a world that lies beneath
the membrane between realities
down in the deep beauty.

Submerge there in the floating light
and allow the turning of the earth
to turn you around in turn
as the dawn of daylight flowing
changes with the melting glaciers of
summer’s golden beaming.

There in the artesian dreaming 
of the wellspring of lifelong learning,
learn the art of keeping still.
Put your feet up and take a breath.
Breathe in the inspiration of life.
Be rejuvenated.

---