Poetry by David Ritchie : Terrain.org

David Ritchie

The Burden of the Land

This is as far as the sea goes

after it, the rocks;

this is where we stopped

and let the horizon come to rest.

This is as far as the sea goes

after it, the rocks

where there is something from our yesterdays

in the sound of the water’s dirge.

How we’ve learned to live with pain,

like a victim with a thief;

how beautifully the past masquerades

as tomorrow’s confidant.

This is as far as the sea goes,

after it, the rocks.

David Ritchie is the Northwest Regional Vice President of the Washington Poets Association. His poetry and fiction have been widely published in the U.S. and abroad, including in Mountaineer's Magazine, The Animist, The Paumanok Review, Red River Review, Drexel On-line Journal, Clay Palm Review, Parnassus Literary Review, BigCityLit-New York Edition, ComradesUK, and Short Stories Magazine. He lives in the San Juan Islands.

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