In Search of Paradise Lost
Mary Jean Chan
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest 2009 (view all the winners)
Most Highly Commended
I am driving down a long expressway,
with my hands gripping the steering wheel—tight.
There is an underlying fear,
knowing that I am not good at abiding by the rules.
But the road is littered with signs—a sudden turn to the right—
STOP! Then,
a sharp veering to the left.
There are no open ended answers.
Something glitters in the distance,
and my heart yearns to look away,
to look towards that sparkling light—
somewhere beyond the horizon.
The road I am on is a well-worn one,
travelled and tested by many,
its quality and prospects assured.
But a sudden tune echoes in my ears—
What I love most about rivers is,
You can't step in the same river twice
The water's always changing, always flowing
But people, I guess, can't live like that
We all must pay a price
To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing
What's around the riverbend
Waiting just around the riverbend
The honking horns and screeching tyres fall into a steady beat;
they are nothing new.
But I hear the faint strains of a birdsong,
I hear the sound of a river gushing downstream.
In my mind's eye I see myself
pick up speed and race through
fields of green;
slow down and look up,
just in time to see the gentle golden rays spread across the sky,
to take in
the dawning of a new day.
I soon stop by a gurgling brook to
listen to the symphony of Nature;
sit beside a pool of liquid green
and contemplate how far the ripples will spread
at the lightest touch of a leaf.
I have already chosen the expressway.
But for once,
amid the numerous traffic lights and road signs,
I want to ignore them
and head into the countryside—
into a different world,
where the lines between dreams and reality fade,
in search of paradise lost.
