Feeling Good – a poem by Ken Gierke

Feeling Good

The sky never alone, even on a cloudless day,
heron, swallows, and cormorants
pass around me. The pace of my paddle
is more in time with the slow rhythm of
the heron than the frantic flight of
the swallows, but as Nina Simone
reminds me, my heart is with them,
and with the few leaves that drift on by
in the early morning summer sun,
still low in the sky and glinting off
the ripples of my wake.

Each season has its rewards,
from blossoms on the trees in spring
to the dragonfly resting on the bow of
my kayak, to the colors of autumn, 
to the sheen of ice clinging to
the river shore in late winter,
each season offering the peace of
a new dawn, each new day
a reason to feel good
about what life has to offer.

My strokes are slow and sure with a horn
that plays like a slow march, as if to keep
Nina grounded, her joy likely to carry her
away to the stars. Strings and piano
move in to reflect that joy, with the horn
stepping in again, underlying her words
as if to give weight to such a peaceful feeling.
As her voice trails off, I continue 
to paddle along the shore, feeling good.

Ken Gierke is retired and writes primarily in free verse and haiku. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming in print and online in such places as Poetry Breakfast, Ekphrastic Review, Amethyst Review, Silver Birch Press, Trailer Park Quarterly, Rusty Truck, The Gasconade Review, and River Dog Zine. His poetry collections, Glass Awash in 2022 and Heron Spirit in 2024, were published by Spartan Press. His poem, ‘Driving Off, Minor’, has been nominated for the 2025 Pushcart Prize. His website: https://rivrvlogr.com