Into Purity

Into Purity

Foot shod sinks in moist sand

This floor is ocean floor

Waves splash, girggle in playful retreat

God calls them away, calls me to newness

Tall rocks sculpted against a blue sky

Shaped like dancers, ever-praising their Maker

Silent celebration, such loud silence!

Inspired,

My arms reach as I poise

The rock dances more elegantly but welcomes my clumsy grace

Temporarily, I join the motionless dance

Soggy footing

Stumble

Smile

Thankful for this isolated nook

Breathe salty humidity

Gooseflesh arms

Froth upon the wave to pair

Comfort is how we match

My hand outstretches

Curiosity

The water weed

Slimy, surprisingly rough balloons of air

Underwater with the tide, they will lift as arms of praise

Listen, even these stones shout in the silence!

Waves begin to hiss and grumble

Warning me to leave their sanctuary

Where I have trod, they will cleanse again

Into purity

About this poem: Hopewell Rocks, NB, Canada, is in the bay where the tide moves the most on a given day. A few years ago, my sister and I went there. I was surprised at my breathless awe. It was an astonishing and fearful place to explore because the tide moves so quickly with such violence yet fanciful beauty. I cannot forget that chilly, soul-stirring early afternoon in the bay.

I tried to keep the poem minimalistic to match my fragment, inspired thoughts there. I remember being so overwhelmed and feeling so beloved at the same time. I understood the biology and the physics of this place, the rocks subdued to whimsical shapes, the weeds with air to better photosynthesize under the dark, swirling waters, and it revealed remarkable fingerprints of a Creator. I was awed a Creator would craft such functioning and potentially hostile beauty. That location and these emotions breathed life into this poem. I hope I was able to echo part of what I was given there.