One of the sayings I hold dear to my heart is “Be like water.” Water is soft and yielding, it will bend and form, carry and support. Over time it smoothes rough edges. Disrespect water and it will ravage, drown, deplete. Your poem reminds me of this.
What stayed with me was the repetition of “the water doesn’t ask.”
There is something deeply comforting in that idea. Water carries what enters it without demanding explanation, justification, or certainty. The poem feels like an invitation to loosen our grip on what we cannot keep and trust that movement itself can be a form of grace. Beautifully done.
The water doesn’t pause to define itself, so nothing in the poem feels like it’s reaching for definition either. It just moves, and in that movement something familiar happens to the reader’s need to hold on.
What feels like possession quietly turns into transit. Even the hands arrive too late for certainty, already softened into release without quite choosing it.
And then there’s that turn where reflection stops being mirror and becomes dissolution: sky, boundary, ending—none of it quite holding its shape anymore.
I love how you frame it as transit Dipti, as that is what happens with water and everything softens around it. The idea of everything dissolving around us can be what happens when the things that are most important take focus.
I think you did something really difficult: you conveyed a feeling of acceptance and release without ever explicitly naming it. I loved that about this poem. Really beautiful. 😊
The hands already open before anyone explains anything..? I hate how gentle that is, like the body knew first and the brain came in late with wet shoes.
One of the sayings I hold dear to my heart is “Be like water.” Water is soft and yielding, it will bend and form, carry and support. Over time it smoothes rough edges. Disrespect water and it will ravage, drown, deplete. Your poem reminds me of this.
THank you Dorie and spoken beautifully!
Gorgeous. The powerful presence and the impermanence of water are seamlessly woven together here. Just like water does. Beautiful.
Thank you so much Nadia!
I’ve always loved that about water… even though it’s almost killed me multiple times lol
😂😂😂
😭😶🌫️🥶
yes. the water carries.
An elegant piece of art.
Thank you Meg 🫶
I like how restrained this poem feels. "Until even the sky / lets go of where it ends" is the one that got me.
Thank you Ayush for seeing the power of restraint😊
i love the sparseness of this poem, it suits it well
Thank you! 😊
What stayed with me was the repetition of “the water doesn’t ask.”
There is something deeply comforting in that idea. Water carries what enters it without demanding explanation, justification, or certainty. The poem feels like an invitation to loosen our grip on what we cannot keep and trust that movement itself can be a form of grace. Beautifully done.
Thank you so much Monica. That's exactly the idea I wanted to come across ❤️
🫶
Nicely done Mark
Thanks Jay!
The water doesn’t pause to define itself, so nothing in the poem feels like it’s reaching for definition either. It just moves, and in that movement something familiar happens to the reader’s need to hold on.
What feels like possession quietly turns into transit. Even the hands arrive too late for certainty, already softened into release without quite choosing it.
And then there’s that turn where reflection stops being mirror and becomes dissolution: sky, boundary, ending—none of it quite holding its shape anymore.
What’s left is not conclusion, but continuity.
I love how you frame it as transit Dipti, as that is what happens with water and everything softens around it. The idea of everything dissolving around us can be what happens when the things that are most important take focus.
Thank you for such a lovely reading of the poem🤍
I think you did something really difficult: you conveyed a feeling of acceptance and release without ever explicitly naming it. I loved that about this poem. Really beautiful. 😊
Thank you Angela. A lovely way to read the poem and something I was keen to see if I could achieve. Thanks 😊
I think this concept is so much more complex than it seems, and I love the depth you gave to it 💙
I really like the atmosphere throughout. It's gentle and carries you along through it, like the water itself.
Thank you, Gary. I’m really pleased that water feeling came through and not just the metaphor.
I really loved this. It felt gentle and freeing at the same time. 🩵
Thank you Diana! ❤️
The hands already open before anyone explains anything..? I hate how gentle that is, like the body knew first and the brain came in late with wet shoes.
Haha, Asuka, we shoes is just the effect! And you caught the hinge. Thank you for bringing a towel with you for a dip in the water🤍
So beautiful
Thank you! 🤍
Another stunning piece Mark ✨
Thanks Luna ❤️