Dark Pines Under Water

Esa Riippa

Dark Pines Under Water

This land like a mirror turns you inward
And you become a forest in a furtive lake;
The dark pines of your mind reach downward,
You dream in the green of your time,
Your memory is a row of sinking pines.

Explorer, you tell yourself, this is not what you came for
Although it is good here, and green;
You had meant to move with a kind of largeness,
You had planned a heavy grace, an anguished dream.

But the dark pines of your mind dip deeper
And you are sinking, sinking, sleeper
In an elementary world;
There is something down there and you want it told.

Gwendolyn MacEwan


Where do I start with this poem?! The image of trees reflected in the water is so strong. I read that first stanza over and over and every phrase makes an impression. "In the green of your time", is that where I am? I think so, actually. I feel green, strangely enough. Green as in flourishing. I feel as if I'm drawing on large resources. And I love that Gwendolyn calls us "Explorers". And it's true, this is not where we expected to be or what we expected to find - but the journey isn't finished either. There's more. And we want to know what it is.