Today the pond is like a river

rushing to the sea,

but there is no sea

and the pond is not a river.

Still, the winds

that move across its surface are a force

that whips it into wildness,

and makes it want to rise above its shores

and go where ponds can’t go.

And I know that wild desire to be more--

that mighty urge to go beyond the shore

that holds me where I am.

It rises in me every day

and takes me with its power

to some place far away,

a distant shore,

where I have never been before.

And then I come back to this chair

and watch the wind-whipped pond,

this mighty pond,

this wild and swollen pond,

rushing like a river,

wanting to go beyond its boundaries

and know there are no shores,

no obstacles to keep from going far.

And though I want to say,

“Be the river of your dreams, break free.”

I know you are a pond

and we are who we are.