The Uncharted Territory
Midway Through Everything
Here I find myself swimming through this moment
neither drowning nor floating
my limbs moving through thick honey of now
while my spirit tastes salt of unfinished business
sweetness of dreams still taking shape
Oh, you fellow travelers
you who know the importance of carrying tomorrow
in the same hands that hold yesterday
Watch how we move through this wilderness of maybe
how we dance between certainty and surprise
our hearts keeping rhythm with the pulse of becoming
I am the one who pauses at crossroads
who feels the pull of every direction at once
The meadows call to me the mountains beckon
rivers sing their ancient songs of motion
and I contain them all within my restless chest
this cathedral of longing and gratitude
Behold how the universe unfolds its secrets
one breath at a moment one choice at a lifetime
I gather these fragments of experience
like a child collecting shells by an endless ocean
each one perfect in its incompleteness
each one singing with untold stories
What chaos is this living
this stumbling forward through fields of possibility
I embrace the confusion the beautiful mess
of being human in this spinning cosmos
Here in the space between questions
I am most myself most awake most alive
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Tim is an Appalachian poet and cookbook author. He writes about rural life, family, and the places he grew up around. His poetry and essays have appeared in Bloodroot and Coal Dust, his latest book.
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FPS: The Last Flame Challenge Winners
Welcome to our first Winners Announcement of the year and to the final challenge in the Fall Poetry Series. The Last Flame invited writers to sit with endings, using fire as a central image to consider what remains when something burns out: ash, warmth, memory, silence, or the faint promise of what comes next. The strongest pieces treated endings as gradual rather than sudden, allowing them to flicker, dim, and linger.
By Vocal Curation Team6 days ago in Resources
Comments (4)
I feel inspired to live life to the fullest after reading this.
another lovely piece "The meadows call to me the mountains beckon rivers sing their ancient songs of motion and I contain them all within my restless chest" My favorite bit. 👏
Well-wrought! Life is for living...
I embrace the beautiful lines you’ve laid here. Well done! I most loved this lines on our hands carrying tomorrow and yesterday. Good luck on the challenge!