Sand Castles and Siren Songs

This little heartfelt piece of poetry was inspired by Poppy's Prompts for February, which is linked at the end so you can join. Poppy gave several words to choose from, with the option of using one or all. Right away, "siren" and "sand castle" called out to me, and this poem was born.

I hope it sings to your heart today.

Sand Castles and Siren Songs

I see you, little girl,

Building parapets of sand,

Clutching tiny grains of hope

So blithely in your hands.

Flags composed of sticks and paper

Posted proudly in the breeze,

Calling innocence to tarry

And the hand of time to freeze.

~~~~~~~

But you never saw it coming –

Till its shadow struck your face

A wave came crashing on your kingdom,

Laying all your dreams to waste.

Salty tears in salty water

Mingled with the seagull’s cry,

For the best of your sandcastles

The water rose too high.

~~~~~~~

You don’t know me yet, dear child

But I know you and recall

Oh the agony I felt that day

To see the castle fall.

Those waves no longer scare me,

For among them now I dwell

I grew up to be the siren

Singing songs you know so well.

~~~~~~~

Now you dream about adventures,

And imagine foreign shores,

You yearn to see the deeper things

Beneath the boggy moors.

You still have many waves to meet,

Many mountains yet to climb,

You will learn to swim the oceans

One sand castle at a time.

~~~~~~~

The wave that brought you tears that day

Will come to seem so small,

You will learn to raise your voice against

The clamor of the squall.

You will call aloud your siren song

To shore up sinking hearts,

And someday build a castle

That no tide can tear apart.

~~~~~~~

Hold on to hope, I sing to you,

A note across the years.

You gaze beyond the waves and then

I watch you dry your tears.

Determined yet, you fill your fists

With mud and start again.

“The next one will be bigger.”

You whisper to the wind.

I shall keep singing over you,

So when the wave unravels,

You’ll still remember ocean dreams

Begin with small sand-castles.

An end...

but also...

a beginning

~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading! Now, go visit Poppy and create your own heart siren song.