When I get stressed… just need a break

I pick a pond… a stream… small lake

off-load my kayak, drop it in

and push off with a paddle fin

then, its breathe-paddle-pause… and row again

mindless movement works its ‘zen’

while Nature paints such wondrous scenes

living art in blues and greens

that, spellbound, I lose track of time

I’m in the moment… so sublime!

perspectives and perceptions change

priorities get rearranged

the problems that I left on shore

don’t seem as dire any more

my way, once lost, becomes quite clear

my needs… quite simple, life… more dear

here, with fish, bird, turtle, bee

a gentle sighing in the trees

the warming sunlight… glassy bay

it always seems a ‘perfect’ day

‘course life will, soon, come crashing in

will build, ebb, flow… to crash again

but, I choose how I think… feel… ‘deal’

can strive to keep an even keel

so, when the stress crests… drags me down

it inundates… it seems I’ll drown

I’ll take a mental kayak trip

grin… climb in… and off I’ll slip

Ironically, even as I wrote this poem about my kayak’s ability to help me escape or deal with stress, I thought of the ever  present risks and stress that’s involved in any kind of boating. As ‘scared’ as I sometimes get in boats, however, I suspect that its that ‘life and death’ element that adds value to my time on the water and helps me to get a different perspective on things.