~* Driftwood Dreams *~

I scrutinize the wild convulsive waves,
Pounding so relentlessly at the shore,
Then like a thief in the night,
They steal away gently out to sea.
Like my heart, so translucent and liquid,
They are gone in an instant forever.

The sun envelops me in its arms
Holding me tightly in a warm embrace.
Dancing sunbeams kiss each newly formed
White-capped wave a fond farewell,
As they rush to die on rocky shores.
White-foamed spray is flung high
Spiraling into the air like my emotions.

Tears cascade down my cheeks
And mingle with the salty, invasive surf.
I wander without any direction,
Along desolate, barren dunes,
Parched and bleached by the midday sun.
Alone, I hear the piercing lament
Of a solitary seagull's cry,
Hovering, circling, then diving into the foam.

I watch as driftwood slowly sails out to sea,
I smile, realizing as it drifts out,
Another rushes up to the shore to take its place.
With trepidation it embraces my ankle.
Suddenly there is stillness,
I pick it up and cradle it like a child.
It sends a sense of new beginnings to my soul.

I want this sadness to be washed away...
Slip out of me and be swallowed by the raging sea.
My existence, like so many grains of sand,
Seems to slowly sift through my fingers,
My sadness is like this long stretch of beach.
One grain of sand is so insignificant alone,
But together they are all consuming as a whole.

But the thought, the significance of finality,
An ending to I know must come and yet,
My heart will not let my soul be free.
Somehow saying goodbye to him is now dwarfed.
In all of this magnificence of nature,
The serenity, and solitude seem to soothe me.

I have to be important in the scheme
Of all this wonder that surrounds me.
I find a place in the sand, lay back,
Stretch out like a cat in the sun,
And like this driftwood I cradle in my arms,
That washed up on this foreign shore,
Perhaps too, I may drift to new shores,
Be held so lovingly, and find new dreams.

~*~

art: Steve Hanks "Conferring With the Sea"