The poem feels like someone standing at the threshold of a great change, speaking not to a myth but to their own fear, their own longing to finally set a burden down. The call to Charon becomes deeply human when you hear it as a moment of honesty: a person admitting they’re tired of running, tired of carrying symbols and stories that no longer serve them. The “empty purse unravelling” feels like a quiet surrender, the kind that comes only when someone is ready to meet themselves without all the weight they’ve gathered along the way.
What makes the piece so tender is the trembling in it the nerves that “dance and shudder,” the mix of dread and relief that comes when you stop resisting a transition you can no longer avoid. Charon isn’t a threat here; he’s a witness, a guide for someone finally brave enough to let go.
And when the speaker offers the coin and asks for nothing back, it feels like a human being stepping into the unknown with open hands, trusting that whatever comes next will meet them honestly.
God.. I'm nearly in tears - this is EXACTLY where my mind was at when I wrote this. I was going through a period of trying to force 'bold, confident, action' as both a writer and in other areas of my life. All I was really doing was suppressing doubts and fears that I no longer knew where I was going and that many of the things that were oh so precious to me for a lot of my life no longer had meaning.
My age (mid forties) probably has a lot to do with it. The regret at disappointment at not meeting certain goals or becoming the person you're SUPPOSED to be unravelling to a realisation that it was never what you wanted anyway.
Thank you so much for your generous thoughts and your time.
The poem feels like someone standing at the threshold of a great change, speaking not to a myth but to their own fear, their own longing to finally set a burden down. The call to Charon becomes deeply human when you hear it as a moment of honesty: a person admitting they’re tired of running, tired of carrying symbols and stories that no longer serve them. The “empty purse unravelling” feels like a quiet surrender, the kind that comes only when someone is ready to meet themselves without all the weight they’ve gathered along the way.
What makes the piece so tender is the trembling in it the nerves that “dance and shudder,” the mix of dread and relief that comes when you stop resisting a transition you can no longer avoid. Charon isn’t a threat here; he’s a witness, a guide for someone finally brave enough to let go.
And when the speaker offers the coin and asks for nothing back, it feels like a human being stepping into the unknown with open hands, trusting that whatever comes next will meet them honestly.
God.. I'm nearly in tears - this is EXACTLY where my mind was at when I wrote this. I was going through a period of trying to force 'bold, confident, action' as both a writer and in other areas of my life. All I was really doing was suppressing doubts and fears that I no longer knew where I was going and that many of the things that were oh so precious to me for a lot of my life no longer had meaning.
My age (mid forties) probably has a lot to do with it. The regret at disappointment at not meeting certain goals or becoming the person you're SUPPOSED to be unravelling to a realisation that it was never what you wanted anyway.
Thank you so much for your generous thoughts and your time.
Nice call! I like the cast away bit and the visuals pair well as always!