Poem – YOU HAVE A PIER IN ME (By John Grey)

YOU HAVE A PIER IN ME – By John Grey

Pier juts far into the open sea.
It makes its point,
not here, where
stone steps lead from sand
to calm wooden planks
but out at the very tip of itself,
where water crashes against
its pylons and its slim foundations
shake and shudder.

Like me,
there’s a calm that seems to settle it
until you realize
it’s happening out there,
where all is roughest.
Let’s walk out to the end of the pier together.
Maybe then, you’ll know where this is headed.

See fishermen hunch side-by-side
along that sea-rotted jetty.
They cast their lines,
safe and sound,
no breaker about to wash them away
as long as they are doing something.
Look at rays glide, gulls hover,
pelicans bounce beneath.
Once more,
wildness cannot harm
as long as you’ve a place in it.

So come on do something.
Find your place in me.