Walking the Plank on Knees

This one made me think of certain mythic poems retold by modern poets, like Ted Hughes’ Tales from Ovid. I really enjoyed the mix of philosophy, geography, salty humour, and history. The images are crisp and clear; the voice is unmistakably you.

Many thanks my friend. Preety much nailed my intention. You are one of the very few who will appreciate the Scouse & Welsh anomaly. So wished to sound like Richard Burton and not the milkman from Brookside. I do a good Burton impression mind. Lol. Just thought the whole piece was a slight variation on a similar theme.

The comment I just left on Eamonn's most recent piece is rather relevant to your second stanza. The lighthouse circling, the negligee on doppelganger lovers, throughout, I feel a kind of time worn wheel of living, a cyclical motion, like a bird wheeling in slower, lower and larger circles. It seems by the close to have come to this place of solitude, it is both peaceful and mournful. From your opening with the metaphor of the ship of Theseus, the concept of what truly constitutes identity, to the third stanza, to the close, I feel like the poem is taking an honest tour of your life journey, where you once where and whom you were, in relation to others, whom you are and were, in relation to your homeland and ancestry, arriving at this distillation of whom you are now. It has such a feeling of unguarded personal revelation that its very compelling my friend.

It was great working out this theme with you and it remains a collaboration in every meaningful way even if we aren't posting our sections together. I've been having trouble finding a quiet time to record my newest writing, hopefully soon.

I am reading Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr and I'd highly recommend, it's tales span many places and times, but the common thread in practically every line is the simultaneous joy of living, of possibility and hope, amidst the suffering and despair, how entwined every living moment is.

On most days, think such exalted and illuminating insights are underserved my friend. So I sincerely thank you. Have possibly visited the "identity" well too often. Probably one more in the bucket. Too many front door keys for one lifetime.

I'm familiar with Doerr's debut book, About Grace. Will place Cloud Cuckoo on my list. Rob    

The first couple of stanzas left me aside, as if you were speaking a language unknown to me. ( Even my Americanized English, I butcher).  But I rode that out, and I'm glad I did.  It's like you leaned back, cracked your knuckles, and then tore into this with a hell of a gusto.  Everything started rolling more fluid, more to the core.  

Wonderfully written, Rob.  Great stuff!

Many thanks Styx. Appreciate the honesty too. I can be drawn to the abstract, which can lead to a difficult reading experience at times. I probably do require a clarity switch in my muddled mind. The older I get the more confusing the issue of 'identity' becomes. Strange really.

Oh I agree.  Sometimes when I read some of my own older stuff, I'm like "huh?".
We forget that we are actually the only ones in our heads, and we write it out exactly as we see it.  But, sometimes readers go "huh?".  
But trust me, my sometimes novice, singular understanding is my own limitation.  Not so much your abstractions.