These lines spark vivid memories of jumping off the iron bridge on the Ogeechee river with my friends. I can so well remember those "converging currents" as they swirled around the bridge pilings, an apt metaphor for the converging currents in our lives.
"Treading the surface
A concoction of cheerful hoots"
is powerful auditory and visual synesthesia at its finest.
-I think Fitzgerald would have been proud of that one!
~Butch

Jude:

lovely lines these,

Courageously swimming
Along converging currents
Knowing the train bridge is not too far ahead

May we never lose hope that bridge is there.

Kathy

So there was this huge old conifer on a hilltop just within sight of the farmhouse that I use to climb with my sibs. We would scramble up those tangled branches as far as we dare! Then we would just sit for hours, listening to the wind blow through those pine needles and marvel at that beautiful countryside all around...
"Converging Currents" brings it all back so clearly.
Love this wistful write, Jude.
Peace,
Carolyn

A great write ! Childern do not seem to have the elements of fear that oldsters have.. Good images.......M

to see and feel through the eyes of an adventurous child...scary and so much fun...

Excllent write, Jude; very well done! BRAVO!

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D

Jude,

The adventures children have.....such youthful exhuberance! Such innocence! Such fun! Thank you for the memories...........well done.

(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.

We believed that we were invincible which gave us such a playful spirit. Once we begin to understand the value of life, we become cautious and often lose that spirit of wild abandon. Quite an emotion stirring and memory jogging piece, Jude. A very entertaining read.
Take care,

Jude, this is wonderful. Playful antics of young boys. Thank you, enjoyed this.

Be safe,
Karen

Taking risks is childhood's pleasure. May it return soon.

Ron

It is often funny how small things can trigger lost yet pleasant memories of childhood. Ripples on a stream, an old tire swing in a huge old tree, laughter of children on an ice rink...all can make us smile with the memories of childhood. Well done Jude, enjoyed this one a lot.

Fee

Known Train (Bridge) Is Not To Far Ahead...

More Of Better Than Z Best To Come...

TRASK

Wow, seems like kidhood was a good time after all.

Thanks
Dan

Oh those days of childhood 'risks'...

Chrissy

I just DON'T believe it... Sage mentioning The Graduate... this poem had me thinkin along the lines of a getaway in the back of a Greyhound bus, instead of leapin aboard the Chatanooga Choo-choo... but guess some of us NEVER know when we've gone just A Bridge Too Far! :)) The imagery of the ripples is just great... symbolic of the childrens' quest for adventure and their return to restraint, perhaps... or even, that those same ripples that bid them fly are there to equally steer/float them to safety again having jumped. Beautiful. Funny, isn't it, how bonding these escapades can be, forging lifetimes of mutual commitment based on the knowledge that each other can always be trusted in life and death situations and that, whatever life may hold, there was once those converging currents which may recur in life at the times we most need them to - at least in spirit. I think it will be most fascinating at the end of the day, to find out WHO exactly IS standing on our "train bridge not too far ahead"... probably all those we at one time or another have jumped with! And love the wordplay with "offspring"... certainly, whatever reticence we may have when we launch off is outweighed by youthful optimism. A bolstering and soldering write for those who have long since forgotten how to fly, Peter... xoxox K

YAY, it was fun fun fun as kids, nowadays we just don't let them play, like we did.

Great write, brings back far too many memories...

Truancy, throwing stones in the river before jumping in the waters.
We had not a worry in the world!!!!
Thanks for the memory.
Georg

These young childhood adventures turn into storylines for movies such as STAND BY ME, THE OUTSIDERS, ST. ELMO'S FIRE, SUMMER OF '42, ODE TO BILLY JO, RADIO FLYER, DON'T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER'S DEAD and mature into THE GRADUATE, EASYRIDER, EAST OF EDEN, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, GIANT, AND REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE...life is all memories and scrapbooks with gummed picture corners chronicle CONVERGING CURRENTS. A bit nostalgic, Jude, meet you at the soda fountain for a sip of cherry coke and a chocolate malted in the steel tumbler, Cline on the jukebox...Walkin' After Midnight...

Sage

Ah if we could only always live life through the eyes of a child, casting care aside and simply enjoying all the simple pleasures and challenges that life can bring...simply lovely Jude. Panda :)

This brought back some great memories Jude...thank you!!

Love Tinka

Yes I remember this daring
having daring attitude when i was Young
And almost drown now I'm afraid to
Even swimming in the pool!!
Excellent write great imagery
And flow I truly enjoyed this write
Keep up the flooooow!!Love and Peace To you...Morning Star

When you are young, you feel indestructible, think you can conquer anything. Then your feet start to hurt.

Good one, Robert.

Elizabeth

Life will have its obstacles, but we must face them head on in the knowledge that we are safe as long as we face it without fear. The bridge will always be there if we care to believe. Great poem!

Carmen :-)

The stanzas of CONVERGING CURRENTS weave innocence and foreboding in a beautifully masterful way. Very satisfying to read this on the first day of National Poetry Month.
Aberjhani

Lovely write here, Jude.

The misgivings of life’s offspring
Is quenched by youthful desire

Such strong lines, painting the perfect picture!!!

~hugs~
Karen

Ah, the fun and carefree spirit of youth! Yes, we all participated in these outragious stunts as youngsters...we too played in the river, and I didn't even know how to swim! One of our favorite things to do was roam around the hills and search for arrowheads, and Indina relics...we discovered an old cave, or so we thought until we went inside to explore and found our brothers name already written on the wall, but we often climbed on top of the cave and swung on grape vines...could've broken a limb, but we didn't...kids will be kids...and always will be. Enjoyed your write, took me back a few years.
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling

It is a skill we loose as we grow and then spend the rest of our lives getting back. But; then again, some of us will always dare.....;-)

OH WOW I think we all have done that before. We are stuipid as kids because we don't realize the dangers or the reality of our fragil exsistance.
My sisters and I didn't have rivers and lakes growing up in CA. our stupidity lay in sneaking to an abandond barn in a field behind the duplexes we lived in.
Sure scared our mom when it caught fire and she couldn't find us.

You know, there are dangers in life but I think by us worrying so much about our kids we have turned them into sissies and narcsisists, Wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, don't run to fast you might fall, don't play in the mud you might get dirty and someone else may frown on parenting skills. LOL The funny thing about kids is that they are going to do what they want if they have to sneak around and do it or not.

Youths daring attitude always causes us to gasp, but it is a trait they would to well to keep. This world requires people of strength who are fearless, to make good leaders. Excellent poem!

I saw kids doing this very thing in Highlands. Jumping from a cliff into the waters below, turning blue from the cold but ignoring the chill and enjoying the fun. Life is full of challenges. Your poem brought this all back to me.
Thank you!
Susan

The misgivings of life’s offspring
Is quenched by youthful desire

How true, Jude.

thoughtful write-i love the lines, "The misgivings of life’s offspring
Is quenched by youthful desire"